Weekend festival celebrates Northampton's independent traders

A section of
St Giles Street will be closed to traffic from next week as rennovation works continue. — A section of St Giles Street will be closed to traffic from next week as rennovation works continue.

Independent Businesses Weekend will include ‘Discover Northampton town centre Live’ from 11am on Saturday 2nd July, to include three stage performances by singer Leon Bratt on Guildhall Road, Derngate and Fish Street. This will be followed by American All Star icons including Uncle Sam, Elvis and the one and only Marilyn Monroe wandering the town centre, encouraging visitors to explore its amazing range of shops and boutiques, cafés, bars and restaurants, and professional services businesses. The whole family will also be invited to interact, pose for photos and be thoroughly entertained by this quirky collection of characters.

The celebrations will continue through to Monday July 4, with special offers available at many independent businesses. Visitors and residents are invited to follow @NorthamptonBID on Twitter and look for the #independents hashtag to keep up-to-date with the latest offers, while businesses should tweet or email their ideas to the BID for additional promotion across its social media channels.

Northampton town centre BID has also produced a set of short films shining the spotlight on independent businesses in the town centre, and these can be viewed on the BID’s Facebook page. Independent Business Weekend supports the national Shop Local campaign, which encourages people to support the independent businesses on their doorsteps. One of Northampton town centre BID’s key remits is to encourage more visitors into the town centre and to help them explore the diverse areas within the town centre.

Jessica D’Aulerio, Chair of Northampton town centre BID, said: “The range of independent businesses in Northampton town centre is one of our greatest strengths; it sets us apart from our neighbours and makes us a really exciting and interesting destination.

“The BID has organised this Independent Businesses Weekend to really shine the spotlight on the independent names that make our town centre special, and we invite as many businesses, residents and visitors to get involved. Follow us on social media, let us know what you have planned and we promise to share far and wide.”