We Are Newark’s Halloween-themed events across Newark, said to be a success as hundreds of people visit town and its businesses

Youngsters flocked to Newark as the town was taken over by Halloween-themed events.

Over the Halloween weekend, October 31 and November 1, the town welcomed vibrant activities and saw hundreds of families with younger children taking part.

The activities were organised by We Are Newark, the local board for the government’s For Your Neighbourhood Plan, to promote Newark as a destination for residents and visitors.

On Friday, a number of businesses across the town centre opened their doors to trick-or-treaters from 11am to 4pm, which was said to be a ‘success’, and Saturday saw performers from the area take over the market, featuring Studio 2 Dance Academy, Hollie Bentley School of Dance and Charlotte Hudson School of Dance alongside activities by Newark Town Football Club, YMCA Community & Activity Village.

One of the most popular activities was the Circus Starlight performance in front of the Town Hall, which saw aerial artists, scare actors, stilt walkers and fire artists. A solo acoustic guitarist also performed throughout the afternoon.

“The event’s atmosphere was very positive and happy, there were lots of smiling faces,” said David Inger, We Are Newark project manager.

“Circus Starlight, Studio 2 Dance, Hollie Bentley and Charlotte Hudson were simply amazing, they garnered large crowds and showed how lucky were are as a town to have such great talent local to us.”

As well as the dance performances, the stage also welcomed music from The Retronauts, Ghosts of Empire and Ghost Drinkers.

David added: “I was very happy and delighted to see it come to life and for people to enjoy it.

“The culmination of months of work with lots of help from our brilliant community groups, and we were blessed with the weather too, the Market Place looked beautiful on the Saturday.”

The spooky fun doesn’t stop there, as nine businesses — Not My Monkey, Crumbly Bun, Tentacles of Time, Cards & More, Newark Eco Refill, Oxygen, Masdings, Serendale, Access Models and Stokes Café — are hosting a Mindful Monster Trail until November 7, with vinyl monsters on their windows.

Inspired by Kiersten Ward’s children’s book Mindful Monsters, the free trail offers children and their families the opportunity to collect a story about each of the monsters at each location, and at the end, they are given a book.

Starter packs can be collected from Oxygen, Cards & More, or Tentacles of Time.

“The desire was to encourage people to visit, stay and return, so hopefully we’ve achieved that in a small way,” David added.

“It was also about harnessing civic pride and showcasing the great local talent we have.

“We all know that shopping habits have changed and as such, so has the “high street”.

“Our challenge as a community is to accept that, though also use our town in other positive ways. I’m happy that this event has helped achieve a little positivity and I’m very pleased that people enjoyed it.

“After all, without the lovely people of this town coming to events and enjoying them, events wouldn’t happen.”

On both Friday and Saturday, Shop Newark organised Spooktacular Newark’s Haunted Cells in the Town Hall in collaboration with Newark College.

The students made trick-or-treat doors, where visitors walked through an animated spooky trail, leading to the cells in the town hall.

Penny Taylor MBE, head of Newark Campuses, said: “A huge thank you to all the businesses who supported the event and welcomed people into their shops.

“The Pride in Place Programme builds on from the success and achievements to date through the Local Regeneration Fund and we have engaged with the community to identify initial investment priorities for the funding, and now look forwards to seeing local plans come to fruition through the additional investment.

“We look forward to planning future events and activities to allow people to enjoy their town while supporting and cherishing our local businesses.”

David Inger has thanked praised Radio Newark, Newark Town Football Club, Circus Starlight, Studio 2 Dance, Hollie Bentley Dance Academy and Charlotte Hudson Dance Academy, Nottinghamshire Constabulary, CBC, Beaumond House, Air Ambulance, Newark Guide, Red Door Tattoo Studio, Faces by Jodie and Shop Newark Online for their support.

He also said that without the help of Newark and Sherwood District Council and Newark Town Council, the event would not have been possible.

This year’s success is hoped to help build a legacy around the themed Halloween events in the town centre for Halloween 2026, which might also see more groups and businesses involved.