Dundas Market welcomed little ghouls and ghosts

28 October 2014

FULL OF spine-tingling scares, chills and thrills, Dundas Market welcomed little ghouls and ghosts last weekend to celebrate Halloween.

Children cackled with delight as the Middlesbrough-based shopping centre welcomed a spooktacular petting zoo to Dundas Market on Saturday alongside frightening face painting and a Halloween disco.

From snakes to skunks with hissing cockroaches and millipedes in between, children got to pet and hold a whole host of creepy creatures.

Tina Ormerod, 25, mum to Iyla Smith, 1, loved the petting zoo and hopes to see more family-friendly events like this in the future.

She said: “I thought my little girl would be scared of all the creepy crawlies but she loved getting to know the blue-tongued skink lizard – I’ll probably have to add a new pet to her Christmas list now!”

“It’s great to see family-friendly events like this in Middlesbrough town centre – there aren’t enough free fun activities in the area but Dundas Market are changing that and I can’t wait to see what’s next” added Tina. 

Creating a ghoulish atmosphere in Middlesbrough town centre, Christian Lax of Contract Experts Limited, the owners of Dundas Arcade, said: “Town centres are still facing a tough time because of online shopping and retail parks so centres like Dundas Arcade need to work harder to attract people to come into town with family events like this.”

“We are hoping to raise the profile of the new look Dundas Market, boost footfall, all while offering a fun experience for shoppers. We have plenty more events coming soon over the festive period including a two-day Christmas market for small independent businesses.

“This is an important time of the year for our traders so we will continue to support them and hope customers can do the same.”