BUSINESSES, pubs, café owners and residents of the town are being invited to take part in an exciting new monthly evening event designed to unite the community.

Launching on February 28, the event will aim to bring together the town's shops, pubs and eateries and residents with an evening of entertainment, good food, shopping and socialising.

The maiden event is being organised by members of Okehampton and District Chamber of Trade, but it is inviting everyone to make suggestions and get involved in it.

The team behind the event want as much input from the community as possible to help shape the event, with suggestions on everything from street entertainment to food vendors welcome. They are even welcoming suggestions on what to call the event.

One of the organisers is Donna Tombs. She said: 'We want to get the whole community on board. This is not just the chamber of trade saying "This is what is happening, come along". Instead, we are saying to people, we think a community event uniting everyone would be a good idea, please approach us, give us your suggestions on what you would like to see. We want people to feel a part of it.

'We want to build some momentum with the first one. You often see tourists walking around Okehampton in the evening a bit bewildered, as there is little to do in the town in the evenings. This will only be one night a month, but if we can get momentum behind it we can make it something really special. We want to involve the shops, the café and pub owners, food vendors, and most importantly of all, the residents of Okehampton.'

As well as inviting shops to stay open until 8pm for the event, there will be food vendors on the street and there are plans to have entertainment like music and street theatre.

At the first event there will be pancakes and crepes on sale from the mobile caterer Crepes All Round. Organisers are also hoping for eateries to get involved too, possibly by offering taster menus or giving out samples in the town centre. Shops may also offer deals and incentives, like they did on Small Business Saturday on December 7.

Mark Turner, another of the event's organisers, said: 'The major thing is that it will hopefully bring increased footfall into the town. Our number of empty shops is well below the national average here in Okehampton, and we want to showcase everything the town has to offer - be it shops, cafés, or pubs.'

The event was trialled in December, a week after Edwardian Evening. Donna Tombs said: 'We thought that event may be quiet just a week after Edwardian Evening but there were definitely people out looking to see what was on — it was just a case of bad timing.

Crepes All Round, which offered food out on the main street that night, did a roaring trade. There is definite potential there for this, not to just be a great business event but a great social one too. That is what it is about, rediscovering Okehampton and socialising.'

As well as welcoming people to get involved in the new monthly evening events, organisers are welcoming new businesses and individuals to join the Okehampton and District Chamber of Trade.

The chamber's annual general meeting takes place at the White Hart Hotel, on January 23 at 7.30pm. People interested in joining the chamber and finding out more about its role in the town are welcome to attend.

If you would like to get involved or have any suggestions, you can call Mark Turner at Donald's Menswear on 01837 52596, Donna Tombs at Rockin' Beads on 01837 657614, or Boomerang on 01837 52368, or e-mail [email protected]">[email protected].