Banbury area folk invited to garden party and dog-friendly events to celebrate the opening of Lidl and Premier Inn

The event will take place on Bank Holiday Saturday, August 28 between 11am - 4pm. The centre will be going dog-friendly from this weekend onwards and to mark this pivotal change the centre will be holding its first ever family-friendly dog agility course with lots of awards up for grabs on the day. All activity will take place in the external space outside Lock29.

The mini agility course will be set up for shoppers to hop on and test their dog’s obedience and show stopping tricks in both structured prize winning and ‘free time’ sessions. As well as Best in Show, awards will be given out throughout the day for all manner of doggy skills such as Waggiest Tail and Floppiest Ears - not forgetting treats for every good boy or girl that takes part.

Families can pick up a bite to eat and drink from Lock29 or Castle Quay and can then take a pew on the centre’s floral benches and specially grassed areas, to admire the planters and wheelbarrows that will surround this bespoke area and then listen to the live music on offer. The event is free and open to everyone.

This Bank Holiday event also marks a year since Lock29 opened its doors to the public. Since April 2021 Lock29 has welcomed several additional independent brands including Tap Social, a craft beer and hospitality social enterprise and most recently madebySUNDAY, an independent Banbury based beauty brand. Since June 2021 Lock29 has also had an external seating area where frequent live music is performed, creating a destination for visitors and the local community next to the historic Oxford canal.

Lidl has proved very popular with the people of Banbury since opening on August 12. The new store has a 1,690 sq metre sales area and features an in-store bakery. A brand new 117 room Premier Inn opened on August 20, fulfilling a gap in the local market. Managers say bookings are coming in fast.

Oliver Wren, Centre Director at Castle Quay said: “This event is a real celebration of everything we’ve achieved in the last 12 months. We wanted to mark the opening of Premier Inn and Lidl with something extra-special. The August Bank Holiday weekend was perfect timing given the one-year anniversary of Lock29 opening which has been a real success story.

"Going dog-friendly also fits with our community ethos – we want everyone in our community to visit Castle Quay and have a great day out experience and being able to bring your dog lets a lot of families achieve that.

“The opening of Lidl and Premier Inn improves Castle Quay’s offer dramatically and will encourage tourism and visits from outside our immediate catchment. Since coming out of lockdown footfall has been strong and things are looking extremely positive as we move into the last quarter of 2021," he said.