First off let's do the introduction: Festival Place is situated in the heart of Basingstoke. There is a massive, and I mean HUGE, multi-story car park that has a capacity of 2500 along with other smaller outdoor car parks on all sides of the centre. These range from short stay 30 minute parking to all day. All the car parks are fairly reasonably priced compared to those around other major shopping malls in the south, you can park all day for around a tenner. If you arrive after 5pm you only pay £1 to park. The facilities: As a wheelchair user this shopping centre is fantastic for me. The loo's are the cleanest most accommodating I have seen. You will need a RADAR car to access the disabled toilets which can be purchased from RADAR direct or if you go the the touristy place next to the library (yes there's a library in there too) they will give you one for your own personal use providing you are indeed disabled. There are several ATM machines situated around the centre aswell as a recycling area, a post box and lockers. Seating is also massively featured so there is always space for you to rest your feet and relieve your shoulders of the weight of all those bags!

Opening times are:

Mon-Fri 9am to 8pm
Sat 9am to 6pm
Sun 11am to 5pm

There is a fantastic range of shops; for those on a budget there are shops such as QS, TKMaxx, BHS. For those with a bit more ability to splurge you will find smaller boutiques such as LK Bennett, Austin Reed and Mama's & Papa's. Not forgetting the good old staples of town centres M&S, Debenhams and HMV (the only shop in the entertainment genre situated inside the mall since the demise of Zavvi). There are an abundance of stalls set around the mall which sell everything from sunglasses to fashion wigs to Yankee Candles to art work. (There are more shops outside of FP in the old malls and elsewhere).

There is always somewhere to eat regardless of appetite with outlets ranging from Costa and Millies Cookies for those just looking for a sit down or a bite on the go. For those looking for a proper sit down you can choose from Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Tai, Indian, American, Burger bars and more. Most restaurants have an outdoor menu so you can have a browse before you head in.

I think this shopping centre has got a fantastic blend of shops and restaurants aswell as a gym, night club and cinema. The local radio station is also broadcast from here. The building (not the stores though) is open from 5am til 1am for you night dwellers.

If you are bored of shopping it is only a few minutes stroll to the beautiful Eastrop park with play area, cafe, boating lake and children's paddling pool set in leafy and floral grounds but that is another review entirely. I digress!

Come visit you may find you like it. I only gave it 4 stars because it cannot compete with a particular mighty northern shopping centre.