The Festival Hall
 Regarded
as the show-case for Petersfield, situated at the rear of the Town
Hall and adjacent to the Outdoor Swimming Pool, is the Town’s
Festival Hall. Its name commemorates the Petersfield Musical Festival
which was responsible for raising the finance to build the hall
in 1935. It is owned and run by Petersfield Town Council.
It is one of the best multi-purpose halls in the south. Apart from
being a concert and theatre venue, it is also home to antique fairs,
book fairs, art and craft exhibitions, as well as large fund-raising
events and dinner-dance evenings.
The adjoining Rose Room, Green Room, Meeting Room and Council Chamber
are all available for hire for AGM’s, prestige meetings etc
and the complex is complimented by a well-equipped kitchen.
The Festival Hall forms the heart of many of the Town’s activities.
It gives a chance for people to develop their talents in the many
societies that take advantage of the opportunities this flexible
public hall provides.
Restaurants, Coffee Shops
The Town is very well served by evening/daytime restaurants and
daytime tea and coffee shops. Many of the tea and coffee shops will
be discovered in the little alleys off Chapel and High Streets -
a good place to find refreshment and relaxing conversation. Wine
bars and good food pubs a plenty, are also to be found in the Town.
Shopping
The traditional market in The Square goes back to the very foundation
of the Town (1182) and fresh vegetable stalls feature amongst the
traders there on Wednesday and Saturday. A stroll through the centre
of the Town will confirm the presence of many well-known national
multiple shops as well as a good sprinkling of individual outlets,
all offering service well above  average.
Rams Walk is a 1993 development of high quality nationally recognised
shops and features a bronze/resin statue of a shepherd, his dogs,
and South Down sheep, by Andrew Cheese. Ramswalk’s anchor
store is Waitrose.
For something different and exciting, try the Folly Lanes area
to the east of the Town Centre, which is the focus for a good number
of little individual shops that enhance the town’s shopping
experience. Many of the town’s established shops started off
here and went onto bigger and better things.
Just three minutes walk from The Square, T.E. Stockwell and Cohen
(TESCO) have a store, complete with large car-park (pay) rounding
off the Town’s excellent shopping centre. The centre combines
the best of market town shopping with a good selection of national
multiple stores.
Christmas Lights
During the Christmas season the streets are alight with the results
of hard work by a small band of people who create spectacular illuminations,
adding joy to the Christmas season in the Town.
Community Centre
 This
excellent, well run Centre is in Love Lane and provides a home for
many organisations. A friendly welcome is always there for anyone
who cares to look in. It is one of a few such centres in Hampshire
which owns its premises, giving it a sound financial foundation
for its comprehensive range of activities.
Always worth a visit.
Physic Garden
Wander down the north side of the High Street and you will come
across Petersfield’s Physic Garden (1988) an oasis of calm,
set in the centre of the Town’s hustle and bustle. Here you
will find one of only two such collections of herbal medicinal plants
in the country. It is a peaceful setting for plants, shrubs and
trees of the 17th Century.
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