town centre

An ancient ceremony of thanksgiving will take place at All Saints' Church on Monday, 29 May to commemorate Northampton's Oak Apple Day. The event celebrates the generosity of King Charles II who donated over 1,000 tons of timber to reconstruct All Saints Church and halved the town's taxes for seven years following the Great Fire of Northampton. The ceremony begins with a thanks giving service at All Saints' Church and military parade followed by The Mayor of Northampton placing a wreath of oak leaves on the statue of Charles II, which stands on the church's portico. More information coming soon...

The Laforey parade will step off from the Guildhall at 11am, following two loops of a route along St Giles' Street, down Hazelwood Road and up Derngate, back to St Giles' Square. At the end of the parade, cadets will salute local dignitaries, including Brigadier David Russell-Parsons, Deputy Lord-Lieutenant of Northamptonshire and the Mayor of Northampton. Formal proceedings begin in the Guildhall Courtyard at 10.15am, with a march of the guard and parade inspection taking place ahead of a service of remembrance at approximately 10.30am. HMS Laforey was adopted by the community of Northampton in 1941 during 'Warship Week', a Royal Navy fundraising initiative which saw towns and cities in Britain raise money towards building naval ships. The town raised more than £750,000 to fund HMS Laforey and she was assigned to several operations in Mediterranean Sea, including escorting a relief convoy to Malta as part of Operation Halberd. Local charities, churches and schools also provided the ship's crew with gloves, socks and hats, while school children wrote them letters. When officers and men from the adopted ship visited the local community, a celebratory parade was organised in their honour. Sadly, the ship sank on the 30th March 1944 after...

Enjoy festive musical performances in the heart of the town, alongside eco festive makes for kids & adults alike, plus some very cheeky elf entertainment!

All activities and workshops are FREE for all to enjoy and take part!

Jazz bands and street entertainers will provide the festive cheer as shoppers enjoy Christmas shopping in St Giles Street on Saturday, 2nd December. Acts will include Musical Ruth, Elton Wrong, the Bad Santas, a juggling unicyclist and stilt-walking ice queens. Montague Jeffery and Vintage Guruwill also be staging live music performances. The BID has successfully applied for a road closure order on this date so shoppers will be able to walk freely down the street and cafes and restaurants will be able to trade outside on the pavements, creating a welcoming community feel to the day. Come along between 11am and 4.30pm and get all the Christmas feels as we kickstart the festive season in style.

‘Win Your Christmas’ by taking part in this year’s Golden Ticket giveaway – to be launched by Willy Wonka at a family fun day! The Wonka-themed event will be held from 11am to 4pm on Saturday, 18th November in Grosvenor Shopping Northampton and will feature character walkabouts, stilt walkers, hula hoopers, balloon modelling and face painting. The ever-popular Golden Ticket giveaway will see four lucky winners each win £500 as part of the £2,000 prize fund, simply by hand-posting an entry ticket into special BID post boxes found in 10 town centre locations from Saturday, 18th November onwards. Tickets are available from retailers around the town throughout the festive period.