A SHOPPING centre in Basingstoke marked its 20th anniversary with grand birthday celebrations on Saturday.
Festival Place, which turned 20 this October, organised a host of birthday celebrations all day on Saturday, October 22.
The retail and leisure destination in the heart of Basingstoke offered discounts, roaming acts and a few extra surprises to mark the occasion.
A host of stores including Brewdog, Schuh and Côte Brasserie took part, while a band, the Festive Five, roamed the centre performing popular hits and challenging visitors to games.
READ MORE: Festival Place giving out 350 free cakes and £20 vouchers to celebrate birthday
There were £20 gift vouchers up for grabs, and more than 350 birthday cakes were given away, including vegan and gluten-free options.
Centre director Neil Churchill said: “Being a major retail shopping centre in the heart of the town is very special to us.
“As we mark this 20-year milestone, we have plenty to celebrate. We are constantly seeing an increase of people in the centre, with 44 per cent more visitors than last year, and we’re offering them more today than ever before. We’ve got over 180 great retailers, including many global brands, and they are trading fantastically well.
“We’re also continually adding to the list of shops and restaurants on offer, which shows huge confidence in what we do here, and in Basingstoke in general.
“With our ongoing support for local charities, food and crisis initiatives, and our community health hub, we have never been more vital for the people of Basingstoke.
“When the centre opened, it was billed as a new dawn for the town and it has gone on to become the heart and soul of our community. Festival Place is about our retailers, our customers and our fantastic team. We have gone from strength to strength, and as we celebrate we look forward to seeing what the next 20 years will bring.”
When it opened in 2002, Festival Place, at one million sqft, was the largest development of its kind to open in the UK that year, with 165 shops, 18 cafes, bars and restaurants and a 10-screen cinema.
The £300m development was designed to transform and update Basingstoke town centre – giving it a new face, heart and soul.
SEE ALSO: Marks & Spencer set to close 67 stores - will Basingstoke be hit?
Built and opened by the Grosvenor Group, Festival Place was sold to American asset management firm TIAA-CREF 10 years later.
In 2015, the centre was bought by AEW, a global real estate asset and investment management company.
Festival Place currently has over 180 retailers, including Five Guys, Brew Dog, Apple, Cosy Club, as well as a 10-screen Vue Cinema, the Escape Hunt entertainment experience, and Flip Out trampoline park.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here