Newtown and Llanllwchaiarn Town Council would like to thank the community for the overwhelming response to the feedback form for the Kicking Off Christmas event.
Organising a community event comes with its share of challenges and obstacles, and we acknowledge that there will always be a need for compromise. Considerations such as logistics, crowding, and costings, particularly in the face of the current cost of living crisis, play a significant role in our decision-making process.
We wanted to assure the community that your comments have been heard, and we genuinely appreciate the constructive feedback provided. Your opinions matter, and we are dedicated to actively listening and incorporating your ideas into our future projects and events.
We note that people have raised questions about why the Kicking off Christmas event relocated to the Town Hall grounds and we have looked to cover the reasons below with some historical information.
In 2020, faced with the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, we made the decision to host the event online only and there was no event held in the town centre. Subsequently, in 2021, the collaboration with Alliance Theatre brought about the light show which was projected onto the town hall building, prompting the relocation of the event to the town hall lawns for the event space. Coupled with the social distancing and Covid requirements still in circulation during this time it was deemed a more suitable location.
Building on from the previous years, 2022 saw collaboration with the Carnival Committee. Bringing forward their vision of the illuminated bike parade and a winter village themed event. Once again choosing the town hall lawns as the preferred venue, as it allowed the bike parade to follow through the town centre, and the winter yurt village to be created on the town hall grounds.
In 2023, amendments were made to the venue layout on the town hall grounds in direct response to the feedback received from our community. We appreciate that visibility of lights still remained an issue which prompted the post-event feedback form to gather your opinions and insights of the overall event. It felt a timely opportunity to review the event format following a few years of relocation to the Town Hall grounds.
Your thoughtful responses are invaluable, and we are committed to using this information to tailor future events to better suit the desires of our community. The lead Councillors will meet to discuss the feedback received as plans progress for the organisation of Kicking off Christmas 2024.
