The night skies over Southend seafront have been lighting up with fantastic firework displays on Saturday nights, drawing large crowds to the town centre.
Thousands of visitors have been attracted to visit the esplanade to watch a series of free firework displays organised by Southend’s Business Improvement District (BID). The displays have been taking place every Saturday night from the 4th October and run through to Saturday 15th November.
Seafront traders said the evening firework displays have been a tremendous success with business significantly increasing on Saturday nights.
The displays have given a welcomed boost to the night time economy in Southend town centre, as Dawn Jeakings, Chair of Southend’s BID, explains: “Businesses tell me that once the fireworks are finished, visitors are taking the opportunity to visit the wide variety of excellent restaurants, bars, cafes and entertainment venues nearby. The public are happy and so are local business owners.”
Simon Patterson, co-owner of seafront music venue Chinnerys, said: “The fireworks, together with the free car parking in the evening, have been very beneficial to business. I have seen a vast improvement on crowd numbers with people having to park as far away as Warrior Square Car Park. There has been a good family atmosphere with people staying around longer, both before and after the firework shows.”
Paul Thompson, Chairman of the Southend Seafront Traders’ Association, said: “All the seafront traders have experienced significant increases in footfall since the seafront parking charges were changed to 6pm at the start of October for the firework nights. The first Saturday of half term was the busiest firework night I have had in 14 years!”
The Southend Business Improvement District represents 371 businesses and is self-governing. The BID is not-for-profit and is privately funded by businesses that fall within the defined area. The BID delivers projects and services that local businesses think will be of greatest benefit to them.
Cover photo by Emjay James.