Members of Mullingar Chamber at the launch of the new shopping voucher, which was launched last week.

Mullingars the place to be this christmas

Published: Mon 1 Dec 2014, 4:21 PM

Last updated: Mon 1 Dec 2014, 4:30 PM

The local chamber of commerce expects even Santa to choose Mullingar as the place to come for Christmas.

"For the last twelve months, teams have been working on a number of exciting projects that will mark Mullingar as a great town to shop and celebrate Christmas in," Mullingar Chamber president Ian Gavin says.

"Important ground work has been done to encourage everyone to come into Mullingar both to 'shop local' and to come out with family and friends for entertainment. The result of all that hard work includes a fabulous, no expense spared Christmas festival in the town centre, a newly launched, new Chamber voucher scheme and the excellent Purple Flag initiative, which will be judged on December 12.

" Add to that lots of free parking in the town, the awesome Sleeping Beauty panto and our own €500 Christmas Window Competition and what you have is a brilliant Christmas in Mullingar. Why would you go anywhere else?" asks Ian.

Christmas magic at Market Square will run from December 19 to 21 and the area is being closed to traffic to create a beautiful Winter Wonderland.

"This is geared for children and everyone who is still a child at heart at Christmas. There will be an outdoor cinema, playing Christmas movies, Santa will be here with his reindeer, getting all his important arrangements sorted out and there will be a Christmas market," explained Ian.

Purple Flag

"The Purple Flag is all about the evening and night time business of Mullingar and is an incredible opportunity for the town to showcase its evening economy and send out a loud clear message that Mullingar is a safe and vibrant place for people to come into town. The Purple Flag team will be visiting on Friday 12 and we just know that the town will be alive with great entertainment, there will be hundreds of people heading into the Arts Centre for the panto and hundreds of people coming into town for their Christmas parties," said Ian.

Shopping Voucher

The new look Mullingar Chamber Shopping Voucher was launched last Tuesday:"Spending locally has a multiplier effect.Retail Excellence Ireland estimate that every €1 spent in a local shop is worth €4 to the local economy. By buying vouchers as gifts for friends or for your employees as a bonus, you secure and support family and friends who have businesses in Mullingar."