Town centre’s wizard plans for Hallowe’en
Businesses band together in a month of family activities
THIS month, visitors can enjoy a range of Hallowe’en activities in Newbury town centre, with a programme of special competitions and events.
A consortium of local organisations have teamed up to offer events including Parkway Shopping, Kennet Shopping and Visit Newbury – run by Newbury Business Improvement District (BID).
Collaborating businesses include Cheap Street fancy dress shop Pageant Party and Crystalz and Rainbowz, a Kennet Shopping centre outlet.
These stores will be decking out their shop fronts as ‘Spooky Selfie Spots’, with passers-by encouraged to take selfies in fancy dress and share them on social media, tagging in @VisitNewbury, @ ShopatParkway and @KennetShopping. Don’t forget to tag us in too – @newburytoday
This event will run between October 25 and 31, and entrants stand a chance of winning spooky prizes in a ‘Best Dressed Hallowe’en’ competition.
The owner of Cheap Street retailer Pageant Party, Mandy Sylvia, said: “I’m looking forward
to taking part in Newbury’s Hallowe’en offering this year.
“Being tucked away on Cheap Street, so many of our wonderful independent businesses, such as Henry and Joe’s, Empire Cafe, Newbury Emporium, Bravo, The Tasty Plaice and Ryan’s Antiques, can be forgotten about.
“By including Cheap Street as one of the key locations for the Dragon visit, and promoting Pageant Party as one of three Spooky Selfie Spots, I hope visitors will explore this side of town more often as a result.”
On October 29, a “lifelike” dragon will be paraded through Newbury’s streets by a visiting wizard.
The dragon will drop by Parkway Shopping at 10.30am, Kennet Shopping at noon, Market Place at 2pm and Cheap Street at 3.30pm.
In addition, free Dragon School sessions of up to 30 minutes each run regularly at the Kennet Shopping centre, targeted at children aged between four and 10.
More information can be found at bit.ly/3F2V1aF
Newbury BID operations manager Alison Drummond said: “We saw huge engagement from the public with our collaborative Hallowe’en Trail last year, and our recent summer events received lots of positive feedback.
“We’re confident that this year’s Hallowe’en offering will be big hit among many families, and we sincerely hope that the activities we’re putting on will pay off for the businesses that occupy the respective areas.
We’re confident that this year’s Hallowe’en offering will be big hit among many families