Lurgan town centre was sparkling with excitement on Saturday with street entertainment, music, craft stalls, storytelling and a stunning evening lantern walk to celebrate its recent Rising Star award.
The free family fun event was organised by Urban ABC and Lurgan Working Group to celebrate the town coming first in the Rising Star category at the ‘Let’s Celebrate Towns’ Awards, sponsored by Visa and the British Retail Consortium, earlier this year.
Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, Alderman Margaret Tinsley said:
“The family fun day in Lurgan was the perfect way to celebrate the town’s Rising Star Award, with the local businesses and community coming together to provide a wonderful event showcasing all that it has to offer. It was incredibly special to see people of all ages out and about, and the creativity demonstrated in the entertainment on show.”
Locals of Lurgan came together for a treasure hunt around the town centre, free walking tours, face painting, music, storytelling, and pumpkin carving. The celebrations were brought to a close with a lantern walk through the town centre streets, coordinated by local AEon Community Arts.
Helen Donnelly, Lurgan Town Centre Manager at Urban ABC and Claire Geddis, Chair of Lurgan Working Group commented:
“We would like to thank everyone who played their part in organising this fantastic event and worked tirelessly to create a fun day filled with so many activities. This was a huge team effort from behind the scenes. The amount of local people who came out to help celebrate was a testament to the local community and businesses who continuously work together to create a vibrant town centre in Lurgan.”
Only 30 towns were shortlisted for eight different award categories designed to be a nationwide showcase celebrating the hundreds of towns across the UK. Competing towns were challenged to highlight a range of exciting initiatives, including business and council partnerships to drive investment, and local mentoring to support local businesses, as part of the application process.
