Thousands of people enjoyed the Bank Holiday sunshine and headed to Preston city centre on Saturday for Preston Rocks and Prestfest.
The events, organised by the city’s Business Improvement District, in association with city centre businesses, saw Gok wan and his team of models descend on the city to promote the latest spring fashion from high street brands and independent businesses.
Gok commented that Preston Rocks was a great event to pull together local businesses and the city, stating that Preston’s residents “were nothing short of lovely”.
As the sunset, the Flag Market became a concert arena as Spice Girl Mel C, Sash, Lovely Laura and 1Xtra’s Ace took to the stage to perform a five-hour gig.
Spice Girl Mel C, who appeared in Preston back in 1995 with the Spice Girls, remembered the gig and said it was ‘great to be back in Preston’. Mel performed her ‘90’s Mixtape’ DJ set featuring memories from one of the most popular music decades.
Chair of the city’s Retail Forum, St George’s Centre Manager Andrew Stringer said: “Preston Rocks was a great success – working together with retailers and the BID we promoted fashion and the city centre’s offer to a wide audience”.
Footfall across the weekend stood at an 11% increase week on week, massively trumping the national average which increased by 6%.
Leigh Sweetman, Evoque’s General Manager and Chair of the Preston At Night group said: “Yet again Prestfest was a great event for the city – the weather was a blessing and added a little extra magic to a great night”.
Plans are already afoot with both daytime and night-time economies looking ahead to next year’s events – details of which will be announced in the coming months.
