Golden ticket campaign in Northampton town centre will see Christmas shoppers win £500 in vouchers

Shoppers will have the opportunity to ‘win their Christmas’ by taking part in a Northampton town centre golden ticket giveaway.

By filling in an entry ticket and hand-posting it on one of the special post boxes in the town centre, residents could be in with the chance to win £500 of vouchers.

The competition will run from Saturday, November 6 until midday on Friday, December 10. Four winners will benefit from the £2,000 prize fund.

The golden ticket campaign, organised by Northampton Town Centre Business Improvement District (BID) hopes to encourage people to ‘shop local’ this Christmas and support Northampton businesses.

BID operations manager, Mark Mullen, said: “After a difficult 18 months or so we’re all looking forward to spreading a bit of festive cheer this Christmas and our golden ticket giveaway is the perfect way to put smiles on the faces of four lucky families.

“The competition is a key component of our Christmas campaign and we can’t wait to see thousands of people enjoying a host of activities as our town centre is transformed into a Winter Wonderland.”

What else is happening in the town centre this Christmas?

(The festive programme has been compiled by the BID, Northampton Town Council and West Northamptonshire Council).

Christmas lights: West Northamptonshire Council and Northampton Town Council’s Christmas lights will be switched on during an event in the Market Square on Saturday, November 20.

BID has funded additional Christmas lighting on lampposts and streets including St Giles Terrace and Wellington Street and around All Saints Church.

Father Christmas: Families with children up to the age of ten will be able to visit Santa’s Grotto in Grosvenor Shopping at the light switch-on and then from 10.30am to 4pm every Saturday and Sunday in December prior to Christmas, as well weekdays from Monday, December 20 to Thursday, December 23.

Fair: West Northamptonshire Council’s Frost Fair will be returning to the Market Square between 11am and 4pm on Sunday November 28 along with a parade, giving shoppers the chance to pick up some extra special Christmas gifts while celebrating the town’s creative makers, artists and traders.

Shop windows: Northampton BID is also calling on businesses to ‘get festive’ with their window displays and get the town centre looking its absolute best this Christmas.

Businesses will be competing to turn their shop windows into a winter wonderland full of festive cheer, before an independent judging panel and a public vote on Facebook decide the winners.

Radio show: A 24-hour Christmas radio station dedicated to Northampton will be hitting the airwaves this December.

Operated by NLive Radio, and sponsored by the BID, the digital station will be playing back-to-back Christmas songs from within the University of Northampton, Grosvenor Shopping and multiple town centre retailers, with businesses able to provide a free ten second sound clip to be played.

‘A Christmas Story’: Northampton Town Council’s augmented reality trail ‘A Christmas Story’ will launch on November 28 via the Explore Northampton app.

Children can follow the trail around ten town centre locations to see a life-sized Father Christmas appear on their smartphone.

Entertainment: The Town Council’s stage in the Market Square will feature live performances and roaming street entertainment between 11am and 3pm on Saturdays throughout December.

For more information about the golden ticket campaign or the festive programme, visit the Discover Northampton website.