Evening Economy

Purple Flag is recognised across the UK and Ireland as the ‘gold standard’ for town centre management which supports local working partnerships to achieve excellence for their area and is widely sought after.

The award is not just about safety, but also the vibrancy and diversity of the evening and night-time offer.  To secure Purple Flag status, Armagh was recognised as a vibrant, well-managed, welcoming and diverse city to visit during the evening, with a good mix of venues and attractions which are appealing to visitors.

Purple Flag is:

• An accreditation process similar to Green Flag Award for parks and Blue Flag for beaches. It leads to Purple Flag status for town centres that meet or surpass the standards of excellence in managing the evening and night-time economy.
• A comprehensive set of standards, management processes and good practice examples designed to help transform town and city centres at night.
• A research, training and development programme, to help towns and cities improve their evening and night-time economy.
• A positive initiative that indicates an entertaining, diverse, safe and enjoyable night out.

PREPERATIONS UNDERWAY TO CELEBRATE DURING PURPLE FLAG MONTH
FLYING THE PURPLE FLAG

Armagh City Centre will be taking part in the official annual celebration of the Purple Flag programme, which recognises excellence in the management of the evening and night-time economy (ENTE) in the UK and Ireland, taking place during the whole month of October 2019.

The ‘after dark’ economy is worth an estimated £72bn annually to the UK, supporting thousands of businesses, employing 4.5% of the UK workforce, and significantly contributing to local economies. This series of events through October intends to capture people’s imaginations, change perceptions and encourage people to do something different with their evening in a variety of locations.

Towns and cities across the country are planning a wide-range of events to not only showcase the quality, diversity and vibrancy of their ENTE, but also to challenge the common negative, perceptions about the safety and quality of our town and city centres during the evening

Armagh City Banbridge Craigavon Borough Council have organised a Halloween Movie Day to celebrate being granted Purple Flag status. This will take place on Saturday, 26^th October in the Johnston Building at the Shambles Yard, Armagh when two old time favourites will be screened, including Hocus Pocus and Beetle Juice.   Celebrations will continue with M D Rafferty Music School Live Lounge Concert, also in the Johnston Building on Sunday, 27^th October.

The Purple Flag programme is run by the Association of Town and City Management (ATCM). Ojay McDonald, CEO of the ATCM said:

“There now are over 70 towns and cities across the UK and Ireland who are proudly flying the Purple Flag after working hard to gain accreditation.

The award is not just about safety, but also the vibrancy and diversity of the evening and night-time offer — this can only be achieved by people working together and across the country we are seeing some amazing examples of this type of partnership working.

It is great to see so many towns and cities really celebrating their Purple Flag achievement and putting so much effort into the celebrations.”

For more information about Purple Flag please contact Sarah Walker, Purple Flag Programme Manager using

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