More than 30 years ago, Ebbw Vale was indisputably at the centre of Wales' history and a burgeoning tourist destination.
The Festival Park shopping centre site was once home to the Garden Festival of Wales - which saw over two million visitors after it opened in 1992 - and was filled with fairground attractions, plant exhibitions and a famous mechanical clock. After its time passed, the location became a busy shopping centre with coaches bringing families for days out to visit the free children's play park as well as the fishing lake and owl sanctuary.
The shopping centre had 30 shops including SportsDirect, Marks and Spencers, Julian Charles and Holland and Barrett. However, the site where thousands once flocked on a Saturday afternoon has been deserted for several years and by 2021, before it closed for good, SportsDirect was the only shop left. But despite a change in its fortunes, there are still a collection of dedicated independent traders maintaining Ebbw Vale's reputation as a destination for shoppers.
