On Thursday 28th August, Yate turned 60! And what a party we had! Alongside our pop-up beach, visitors were treated to a host of performances from tribute acts as wide ranging as George Michael to Kylie and Ed Sheeran to Dua Lipa! The crowds sang and danced, and a good time was had by all – especially our lucky prize winners! Thank you to everyone who has been a part of the Yate story for the last 60 years, we have a fabulous community and you make Yate the special place that it is. We can’t wait to see you again soon!

Throughout this summer, join us for a series of celebrations to commemorate our 60th year!

Cast away those winter blues, dust-off your buckets and spades and get ready…..the beach is back, returning to Yate Shopping Centre on Monday, 26 May for a full 13 weeks!

Following very successful spells in recent years, the beach will be in-situ for longer than ever this year and ready in time for those long warm drawn-out summer days.

As the Centre’s Marketing Manager says, it will make the ideal opportunity to get plenty of practise in for the summer holidays: “The beach is without question the most popular of all our Centre events. This year we have decided to make it an almost permanent summer fixture, giving people the opportunity to roll up their sleeves and make the most of the summer months”.

The beach will be sited in the central square at the Shopping Centre and will be open during the Centre’s trading hours from Monday, 26^thMay until Monday, 1^stSeptember.

Search the ‘Smiley Sunshines’ is the challenge facing visitors to Yate Shopping Centre this coming half term, Saturday, 29th May through to Sunday, 6th June.

Smilies will be sited in participating shop windows, from where competition forms can be collected, with an Entertainer voucher the prize for the winning entry drawn.

Andrew Lowrey, Yate Shopping Centre Manager: “We are looking forward to the full easing of lockdown restrictions, hopefully in late June, but for the meantime this  competition will give Centre visitors a challenge with a ray of sunshine!

“To enter, all you need to do is collect a form from participating stores and find as many Smiley Sunshines posted in shop windows as you can and post the completed form in the postbox in the centre square.

“We sincerely hope that this is the prelude to a fuller entertainment programme for the summer months but so much depends on the next few weeks. Now is the time to support the Centre and its traders, helping them recover from the impact of the last twelve months”.

Despite the unpredictable and at times rapidly changing situation, there will still be a Christmas flavour at Yate Shopping Centre this year.

Working with Yate Rotary Club, the Centre will stage a ‘Tree of Light’ where people can sponsor a light in memory of a loved one or to celebrate a special family event. The tree will be sited near the petrol station, facing the Link Road, so highly visible and bringing Christmas cheer to the whole town.

Marian Gilpin, co-ordinator for the Rotary’s Tree of Light event, said: “Although there will surely be many restrictions on our movements and gatherings, this special tree can be shared by everyone and will be lit from 27th November until 10th January to remind us of our loved ones.”

In view of the current pandemic restrictions, the switch-on will be streamed live on the Shopping Centre’s Facebook page.

Andrew Lowrey, Shopping Centre Manager, said: “It is very difficult toconfirm our actual plans except from confirming that there will be no parade and light switch-on event this year

“I know this will be a great disappointment to many visitors as in previous years the ‘switch-on event’ has proved an extremely popular attraction. However, we do appreciate the importance of the start of the Christmas season to both our traders and the public.

“Thus, we are erecting new Christmas decorations and the grotto will still feature in the centre square. In addition, this year we will be operating a Santa’s postbox, which will also be in the centre square,and all letters posted will receive a reply.

“Obviously we will make a point of keeping everybody informed if the event schedule should change as we get nearer the festive season but things are largely out of our hands as everything will depend on government guidance at the time”.

The only Christmas pop-up shop confirmed to date is the Calendar Club which will  be located at 7 North Walk and will open during October.

This year’s Christmas festivities at Yate Shopping Centre will get underway on Saturday, 16th November with the traditional parades and lights switch-on.

Throughout the day from 11am until 5pm there will be a wide variety of activities with entertainment on the central stage and parades at 1pm and 3pm culminating with the lights switch-on at 4.15pm.

Andrew Lowrey, Yate Shopping Centre Manager: “This year’s festivities promise to be another entertaining and thrilling day with Father Christmas and his real reindeer in the parade along with many other exciting characters.

“Other activities will include letter writing with Postman Pat, balloon modelling, along with prizes and giveaways. Look alike characters in the parade will include Elsa, Paddington, LOL Dolls and Dumbo It will be an action packed six hours, ensuring fun and amusement for all the family but we’ll have to keep a watch out for the Grinch who is always happy to ruin the day!

“In addition, the seasonal pop-up shop, Calendar Club, will be opening as from early November so there will be plenty of opportunity to start the early Christmas shopping”

It must be summer – the ever popular beach is back in Yate Shopping Centre returning on Friday, 24th May for the summer.

Its opening coincides with two fun and entertainment days during the school half term break: on Tuesday, 28th May – ‘Come & Meet Zog’ and on Friday, 31st May – ‘One Great Day’, an action-packed activities day.

Andy Lowrey, Yate Shopping Centre Manager: “The beach is one of our favourite and most successful attractions, appealing to visitors across all ages. It signals the start of the summer months and runs through to the end of August.

“As always there will be a programme of fun-filled activities throughout the summer months, the full programme of which will be published in due course, but initial activities are ‘Come & Meet Zog’ and ‘One Great Day’. These events are an important element of our customer relations allowing shoppers to relax in the Centre with their families.”

On Tuesday, 28th May, it will be everybody’s opportunity to meet Zog, a keen young dragon in his first years at Dragon School and now a popular family film based on the picture book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. ‘Meet & Greet’ sessions will be held on the half hour from 11.30am until 3.30pm.

Friday, 31st May will be a free fun-day for all the family with a variety of activities and the public is encouraged to attend dressed as their favourite Disney character for a chance to win a prize.

Further prizes will also be on offer for face painting and balloon modelling activities which will be on-going throughout the day with three special meet & greet character lookalike sessions:

• 10.00am and 1.00pm – Buzz & Wood
• 10.30am and 2.00pm – Princesses
• 11.30am and 3.00pm – Nemo & Dory

The world-wide fight against polio was recently highlighted on the streets of Yate Shopping Centre when Yate & District Rotary Club brought its Iron Lung campaign to the Centre.

The Club has been fundraising for the campaign for nearly 35 years during which time it has seen the disease eradicated from 125 endemic countries in 1985 to just two nowadays – Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Andy Lowrey, Yate Shopping Centre Manager: “We have been supporting the local Rotary Club for several years now as part of our ongoing community work. Most recently we were privileged to host their Iron Lung campaign trailer so the public could learn about polio and the specialist treatment whilst donating much needed funds to the cause.”

David Picton, Publicity Officer for Yate & District Rotary Club, said: “We are lucky to have a very good working relationship with Yate Shopping Centre and its management who have regularly allowed us to put displays in vacant units to present our work and undertake fundraising activities.

“The Iron Lung campaign is one of our key activities and for every pound we raise The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gives two so the people of Yate know that their contributions are being dramatically increased and are going to a very valuable cause.”

The ‘Iron Lung’ is used to treat patients suffering from polio which can effect the body’s muscles and cause breathing problems.

Two of the star characters from children’s favorite Paw Patrol will be entertaining visitorsat Yate Shopping Centre on Thursday, 15th February.

Sky and Rubble from the popular children live show will be staging ‘Meet and Greet’ sessions at intervals between 12.30pm and 3.30pm during the day. There will also be ‘Story Time Sessions’ led by a narrator at 11.30am and 4.00pm.

AndrewLowrey, Yate Shopping Centre Manager, said: “The Paw Patrol visit will kick-off our entertainment programme for 2018 and will be an entertaining and interactive day for children of all ages.

“The new Entertainer Store on West Walk will be stocking a large range of Paw Patrol merchandise and will have a demo of a Pup Pup racer on the event day.

“2018 promises to be an exciting year for the Centre with an extensive schedule of events lined-up throughout the year with some old favorites making return appearances including our popular Beach and the usual Christmas launch.

“In addition to the special events, the Centre offers a comprehensive range of entertainment, and dining experiences ranging from the very latest cinema showings at Cineworld through to a wide variety of eating places including Boleros, Frankie & Benny’s, and Prezzo at Yate Riverside.”

All Paw Patrol events will take place in the Central Square outside Boswell’s Cafe.