Posted: Tue 6th Jan 2015

Wrexham Praised For Its ‘Enjoyable’ Festive Activities

Wrexham.com for people living in or visiting the Wrexham area
This article is old - Published: Tuesday, Jan 6th, 2015

Wrexham has been praised for the ‘enjoyable’ Christmas events that were held in the town centre during the festive period.

Christmas may have been and gone, however Wrexham’s festive activities were praised this morning by members of the Town Centre Forum, with Chairman Nigel Lewis describing the activities as ‘beneficial and enjoyable’ to the town.

Throughout late November/ throughout December Wrexham played host to a series of festive events, including the town centre Lantern Parade and Christmas Light Switch on, the popular Victorian Christmas Market and the highly popular Coca-Cola Truck.

Thousands of visitors and shoppers attended the events, with many local businesses reporting an increase in footfall to their stores throughout the month.

The Small Business Saturday event, which saw local businesses team up and host an event promoting independent and local stores on December 6th was also praised by members of the Forum.

Speaking about the Small Business Saturday event, Mr Lewis said: “It was a great day for the town. We have got feedback from people and issued a questionnaire to see how people felt about the event.

“It is great having these things, but we want to understand if they are worth doing; what went well and what didn’t go as well. It was a very enjoyable day and was a strong collaborative approach between the private sector, local businesses and the support we had from the Council, with free car parking and the use of the market stalls.

“People weren’t rushing about, they were stopping and talking. It was the Christmas period anyway and people were spending, but the feel from shopkeepers was generally positive. People are looking for an overall experience.”

Generally the event has received positive feedback from those who visited the town, which saw free car parking in all Council owned car parks in the town centre; a Cupcake Trail, fair ground rides and special offers in many of the stores taking part.

One comment fed back in this morning’s meeting was the pop-up shops and how a couple weren’t as easy to find as the others, with a suggestion that maybe some of the stalls could have been based outside. However the Forum was told that due to the time of the year the event is held, there is uncertainty on what the weather would actually be like on the day.

Councillor Bill Baldwin described the event as a ‘fantastic Saturday’, adding: “It reminded me of the 80s and what the town used to be like. People will come into town if there is something on offer.”

Details of some of the planned / confirmed events for the next few months were also provided. On the 24th/25th of January the Wrexham Wedding Trail will return for its second year, with local and home based businesses having pop up stalls in the Wynnstay. Independent businesses across the town centre will also be involved and offering advice / services for people’s weddings.

On the 14th/15th of February there is set to be a carnival and parade through the town centre, which has been organised by the Portugeuse community. Plans are also being put in place for the Wrexham Half and Full Marathon, which will take place on the 8th of March. Work is also underway on organising a ‘Funday’ on Queens Square, which would coincide with National Autism Awareness Day.

A suggestion was also made by parliamentary candidate, Andrew Atkinson that a ‘blue print’ is created to help inform people who are interested in arranging an event in the town centre.

Mr Lewis added: “If we aspire to put a good event on each month and we tell people and we market it, people will come in and they will part with money. Entrepreneurs will then take an interest in the empty shops.”

*As a side note, if there are any local businesses / business owners who can’t make the Town Centre Forum meetings but are interested in receiving updates of the monthly meetings, then please contact [email protected].



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