Newport to go all out for this year's Christmas switch-on event with entertainment from 10am to 7pm
Newport’s Christmas lights switch-on event this year will last for a full day, a meeting heard.
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As the town’s love affair with festive events has sparkled over the years, Newport Town Council has decided to make this November's event an extravaganza lasting from 10am to 7pm.
“Get ready for more Christmas fun,” outgoing town mayor Ian Perry told the town meeting on Wednesday (May 14). “I am looking forward to kicking off the festive season and to seeing you there on Saturday, November 22.”
The event will include a Christmas Market among the day’s activities.
Councillor Perry outlined a ‘busy and productive year’ for the town council and its various goings-on.
He outlined what had been happening in a municipal year that started with the D-Day commemoration in June 2024 and virtually ended with a VE Day event earlier this month.
He called the community groups in Newport “a strength of the town” as he noted the first anniversary of the town council’s ownership of the library.
“We have some exciting plans for 2025-26 and we can’t wait to share them with you,” said Councillor Perry.
The town council has also taken on another 28 allotment plots at the site in Meadow View, taking the total number to 111 there with another 22 at Boughey Road. There is a waiting list to get one.
Councillors have also celebrated the reopening of toilets in the town in April.
Councillor Perry said he thought it had been “worth the wait”.
David Parker, of the Newport and District Civic Society and Newport Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the mayor’s report, which was received with a round of applause.
“Both organisations would like to record our appreciation for the reserve you have created of £25,000 for a car parking strategy,” he said. The town council announced proposals in 2023.
“I think it will be money well spent and we congratulate you on the initiative.
“It is a real issue for the businesses in town and the visitors,” he said.
Mr Parker offered the assistance of both groups.
“We would like to engage with you and help if we may be of assistance.”
And he added: “Most of all this is a speech about appreciation. Thank you, one and all.”
Councillor Perry also sounded a note of caution for any parking strategy.
“We will do what we can for car parking but if it was an easy issue to resolve it would have been done long ago,” he said.
