JOHN Street retailer Rebecca March says she is pleased with how the Christmas on John Street event was planned and executed.
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And, that it attracted lots of families to the revitalised town centre on Friday afternoon; and into the evening.
The event saw Christmas come early to the Central Business District (CBD) with markets, entertainment and other activities that finished with a bang – a fireworks display.
Thanks to collaboration between Singleton Council, Singleton Business Chamber and the Rotary Club of Singleton, and it is estimated 5000 people attended the festivities.
She says the organisers did a great job and plenty of customers visited her store, Redbournberry Clothing, from 4pm through to 7.30pm.
“It was well-planned and well-attended with plenty of entertainment,” she explains.
“For the first time it went really well but it would be good to see the event start earlier next year so John Street traders can take advantage of the crowds for longer.”
Ms March says it would be good to have a few more events like this during the year as it is the mining downturn and subsequent job losses, rather than the main street construction work that has reduced her trade.
“We are a destination shop, people come here for something specific not like a butcher, bakery or newsagency that rely on foot traffic,” she explains.
“So I would like to see more shopping promotions.
“This could involve blocking off an area from 5pm to 9pm and having the markets on John Street instead of in the car park area.
“I am happy with the upgrade, you can’t please everyone but it definitely looks better and Diona completed the work quickly with minimal fuss.”
Council’s acting general manager Gary Thomson says they are thrilled with how the community embraced the event.
“The event exceeded all our hopes and we’ve estimated about 5000 people made their way through the various festival precincts we created in and around the town centre,” he says.
“We’ve received some fantastic feedback from business owners and already they are thinking about what they can do next year to make it bigger.
“The stallholders were pleasantly swamped and a special thanks to all those businesses that traded late to take advantage of the event.”
He says the purpose of the event was to show the community and businesses how the newly-revitalised town centre could be used for special activities to boost foot traffic and trade.
“And, I think we have achieved that,” Mr Thomson says.
“Council is currently developing the budget for 2016/17 and will evaluate its events calendar when allocating funds for future events.
“However, based on its success, it seems likely that a Christmas event will take place in 2016.”
Mr Thomson would also like to congratulate council’s events team and their partners Singleton Business Chamber and the Rotary Club of Singleton. And, he would like thank the sponsors who made the event possible.