A festival offering £5 bargains to shoppers is returning to Maldon High Street, and organisers hope it will help create a "buzz" around the town's independent businesses.

Fiver Fest has had successful runs in Maldon since first coming to the town in October 2020, thanks to the collaborative efforts of Allison Gray, owner of Willow & Fox, and Michael Bloomfield, who runs Thync Creative.

Run by Totally Locally, a grassroots high street movement which has been supporting independent businesses and encouraging people to shop locally since 2010, the festival is coming back to Maldon from 12 to 26 March.

Allison, chair of Maldon Business Board and Maldon High Street Together, is urging businesses to sign up by offering special £5 deals to shoppers.

She said: "Local independent high street shops are coming together once again to bring Fiver Fest to Maldon.

"Fiver Fest creates a real buzz around town and helps the public find shops they may not have otherwise visited.

"Supporting and keeping the local businesses here in Maldon makes the town better. It's that simple and your £5 spend really does matter."

Totally Locally estimates that £2.8 million would go directly into the local economy each year if every adult in Maldon spent £5 per week in their local independent shops, using the most recent census data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

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Allison said: "We would love people to spread the word. There really is something on offer for everyone - from butchers to sweet shops, vegan, eco refills, books, coffee, cake, fashion, gifts and so much more."

Organisers will be creating a map of all the participating businesses this year, Allison added, "so you can literally follow a trail to grab all your £5 bargains".

Any high street businesses that would like to join can email Allison at [email protected].

The map goes to print on Monday (7 March), so businesses are urged to get in touch as soon as possible.

The full list of participating shops will be revealed on Monday.

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