FESTIVAL Place will fall silent as the music is turned off to support the UK’s first Purple Tuesday.

The town centre shopping centre is throwing its support behind the new national awareness day on Tuesday, 13 November, with a range of initiatives that promote inclusivity and accessibility for those with physical or hidden disabilities.

As well as turning off the music, Festival Place’s cinema tower will shine purple.

The day is aimed at giving those customers an opportunity to take advantage of Festival Place’s vast range of stores, restaurants and leisure facilities in the lead-up to Christmas, while avoiding the busier shopping environments in December.

One of the initiatives will be the centre and more than 20 retailers turning off music for the day to help create a calming shopping experience for people who can experience sensory overload.

Neil Churchill, centre director at Festival Place, said: “As an inclusive shopping and leisure destination, we’re hugely proud to be supporting Purple Tuesday.

“Our refurbishment programme this year helped to enhance accessibility as part of our drive to provide the best possible visitor experience for all our customers.

“We are committed to constantly reviewing and devising new innovative ways to further improve accessibility at the centre.

“The retail community at Festival Place is backing this campaign and we’re looking forward to welcoming visitors on Purple Tuesday.”

Children from Dove House School in Basingstoke will also be supporting the team at Festival Place throughout the day.