Published: Wednesday, 25th November, 2009 6:00pm

Mullingar will be pedestrianised

by Olga Aughey

Comments (0) | Print | Email

Mullingar will be in Christmas spirit on Sunday, December 6 when the town is opened up to shoppers for Christmas Market Day in conjunction with Mullingar Chamber of Commerce, the Farmers' Market and local traders.

Oliver Plunkett Street, Pearse Street and Mount Street will be pedestrianised from 12 noon until 6pm to allow shoppers to get a taste of some local fare at the Farmers' Market stalls, while allowing them to enjoy winter purchases from local traders who will open up for the seasonal shopping on Sunday.

The main man himself - Santa - will be out and about to see who's being naughty and who's being nice, while shoppers will be treated to a full musical line-up including traditional Christmas carols throughout Sunday at different purpose built stages around the town.

The Market Square Stage will play host to the The Army Pipe and Drum Band, The Lakeland Swing Band, Mullingar Choral Society, the Midlands Youth Orchestra and the African Gospel Choir, among many others, while on Pearse Street, Dominick Place, Castle Street and Mount Street, the finest acts Mullingar has to offer will be doing their thing with bands like The Shy Talks, Seven Days, Ever27, The Swarbriggs, Tennessee Breakdown Band, Marty Mulligan plus many more, cranking out those rocking tunes. Ann Hamill of Mullingar Farmers' Market said following on from the success of the recent Discover Mullingar Day, that Sunday, December 6 will be a fun day out for everybody:

"We can't wait to see people out on the streets mingling and talking to each other because afterall, that is what the spirit of Christmas is all about isn't it," commented Ann.

"There will be food, hot coffee and stalls intermingled with the street traders who will open up for the day, and people won't have to worry about parking," continued Ann. "I think it's important for people to support their local businesses and I can tell you, come hail, rain or shine, I will be enticing as many people out onto the streets of Mullingar as I can!"

At last week's meeting of Westmeath County Council's Mullingar Area Committee, Cllr. Aidan Davitt welcomed the street festival, as did his Fianna Fáil colleague, Cllr. Robert Troy, who said that the event would be "worthwhile... following on from the Discover Mullingar day".