PRSPR Antrim launches Love Antrim Week events

FROM Monday 9 February to Saturday 14 February, Love Antrim Week invites everyone who lives, works, trades, volunteers or simply cares about Antrim to come together actively support the town.

A spokesperson for organisers PRSPR Antrim said: “We need to support our town and the businesses to help keep it alive!

“Right now, some local businesses are openly questioning whether they can keep going due to a lack of trade.

“These are not abstract numbers or distant statistics.

“These are familiar shopfronts, local families, friendly faces, and livelihoods rooted in this town.

“At the same time, we want Antrim to attract new businesses, new ideas and new investment.

“But potential businesses look at more than vacant units. They look at reputation. They look at online commentary. And too often, what they see are negative comments that linger long after they are written, quietly shaping perceptions and discouraging confidence.

“Love Antrim Week is a chance to change the story, to shout loud and proud about what Antrim already has, and to prove that this is a town worth investing in, shopping in, and believing in.

“A town rich in assets, people and possibility, community spirit, in voluntary organisations, social enterprises, creatives, businesses and everyday people who quietly make this town work.

“Love Antrim Week celebrates all of that. It also recognises the incredible organisations and groups who are stepping forward to support the week, offering their time, energy, spaces and ideas to create moments of connection, warmth and positivity across the town.”

Love Antrim Week begins on Monday 9 February with the first Positively Antrim Putter, setting the tone for a week rooted in kindness, connection and action.

Throughout the week there will be at least one free cuppa event every day, turning Antrim into what is essentially a town-wide free cuppa connection club.

From Space NI to community spaces across the town, residents are invited to drop in, have a cup of tea or coffee, and spend time together.

The programme includes Communi-TEA gatherings, events for social enterprises and community groups, dance pop-up tasters, a Ska-mmunity Get Together, bringing energy and entertainment, informal drop-ins designed to reconnect people with the town and with each other.

Not big on chatting, how about the quiet reading session in Hug-A-Mug?

The week will build toward a big family-friendly finale on Saturday 14 February, with a range of fun activities for all ages.

And alongside the published itinerary, there will be surprise moments and giveaways throughout the week. To find out more, people are encouraged to keep an eye on the PRSPR Antrim social media pages, where announcements will be shared as the week unfolds.

The spokesperson added: “Every time we choose to shop local, speak positively, attend an event, or encourage someone else to give Antrim a chance, we strengthen the town’s future.

“Love Antrim Week is not about pretending challenges don’t exist. It is about choosing to respond to them together, with pride rather than pessimism, and action rather than apathy.

“It’s a call to the whole town - whether you attend one event or many, whether you stop in for a cuppa, bring your family along on Saturday, or simply choose to speak kindly about Antrim this week, you are part of the solution.

“Together, we can make Antrim not just a place that people pass through, but a place they choose to spend time in. Together, we can make Antrim the most positive town in Northern Ireland.”