Spooky Saturday CBD revival starting step

Halloween weekend’s family-orientated day in town and themed night out, on November 1 is the first effort to Marlburians to fall back in love with the CBD.

The CBD Halloween Trick or Treat, alongside the Halloween After Party across The Good Home and Scotch Bar, are part of a collective effort by Vish Prasad, Clayton Knowles and their sponsors to organise monthly events in central Blenheim.

Around 50 local businesses will be daytime trick or treating from 10am to 3pm alongside the Marlborough Artisan Market and the Brian FM Fire Truck, before continuing later into the night.

And with costumes expected for kids 13 and under who are taking part with parental supervision, and at the After Party, Vish hopes the collective approach will bring a busy weekend for CBD businesses.

“Clayton and I teamed up as the ‘Ministry of Mischief’ to organise events and activities at least once a month to help the community rediscover their love for the CBD with our focus on low-cost, high-impact solutions that will increase foot traffic for local businesses”, Vish says.

“Trick-or-treating is always fun to see the family costumes going around, but many people may not be aware of the new shops that are opening so these ongoing initiatives will raise awareness of what’s around in town”.

Vish says that his canvassing from his electoral campaign made him want to take a lead in organising new fun events throughout Blenheim CBD.

Part of Clayton and Vish’s grand plans include the redevelopment of the old City Hotel site, currently owned by the District Council.

“We call the idea Event Central - pending approval of our proposal this space will host a variety of local events benefiting both the community and local businesses, and providing residents with consistent enjoyable days out”

“I discovered their rate increase was quite significant this year alone, plus the outgoing, plus Westwood taking a lot of foot traffic. But with fun for all from 10am to 3pm before continuing later into the night for their first event this Saturday, and many more plans in the pipeline, Vish says they’re happy to do their part “to help the community rediscover their love for the CBD”.

“Businesses are providing their own candies for the Trick or Treat so there’ll be a few surprises around, but we’re believing the businesses might run out of candies, so Clayton and I are also purchasing quite a lot of candies to keep the event going longer.

“We’ve got some major candy donations from Woolworths Blenheim, Tyreland, and Warehouse, with smaller donations from Bunnings, Resene, Ray White Blenheim, which are really appreciated too.

“Bring your family, invite your friends, and let’s make this Halloween a day to remember in the heart of Blenheim”.