Details revealed about Parkway opening

Fanfare procession complete with live music, percussion and street entertainment will kick off the October opening

AS the opening date for the Parkway development nears details of a colourful opening ceremony in Newbury have been revealed.

A fanfare procession, complete with live music, percussion and street entertainment, will make its way up Northbrook Street to Parkway's Middle Street on Thursday, October 27, where the ribbon cutting will take place at 11am, when high street stores at the £150 million 475,000 sq ft shopping and residential development will open their doors to shoppers.

Shoppers are invited to join in from 10.30am on the big day, where the celebrations kick-start outside the Corn Exchange in Market Square with the “Parkway Parade”.

Leading the way will be Jack of Newbury, the town's famous cloth merchant from the 15th and 16th centuries, who will be returning to join in the historic event.

To mark the occasion, local school children from Speenhamland primary school, in Pelican Lane, have been invited to take part in a ‘Jack is back' competition, in which they have been tasked with designing a modern day outfit for Jack to wear at the opening ceremony.

The ceremony will be the culmination of almost three years of work, as the first diggers and JCBs trundled onto the site in the winter of 2008.

Parkway is calling on Newbury musicians to take part in the opening celebrations and play a part in town history when the centre opens on 27 October.

Marching musicians of all disciplines are invited to send details to Alex.herbert@spiritmg.com.