Maldon Nub News aims to be supportive to EVERY element of the community from business and shops to people and charities and clubs and sports organisations.

Everyone is finding it tough at the moment and wants life to get back to normal.

We will be profiling some of these local businesses and groups across Maldon town and district regularly over coming weeks in our UP CLOSE IN MALDON features in the hope that we can be a supportive springboard for your full return to life and business as usual.

Today we feature an interview with Triss and Sharon of the Burnham Art Trail about the history of this popular event, their hopes for 2021 and the importance of art to the Maldon district.

There's something that Triss and Sharon both quickly point to when they talk about the Burnham Art Trail and what it means to the people of the town and the surrounding villages.

"It's about bringing artists together to demonstrate how much talent there is here and how much people value Burnham and its special character," Triss says, "it's a very arty place and art is important to the community here."

"There are big open skies and isolation, but also beauty in that."

Sharon often advises those who want to get a feel for the character of the area to take the train trip from Wickford to Southminster.

"It's absolutely stunning," Sharon adds, "the Saltmarsh and the mist coming down – there's something in the inspiration of the landscape."

In more usual times, the Art Trail is a festival of local talent that spans two weekends in each summer, with its heart at The Burnham Museum where the walls display many gems of local talent.

Then there are the town's shop windows taken over by displays of art ranging from oil paintings to works in many other mediums, as well as jewellery, sculpture, pottery – the list is almost endless, though the Art Trail committee asks that crafters have something 'different' to offer.

Then in previous years there has been Art on the Quay with art demonstrations and entertainment too, in the shape of local musicians and bands.

Of course, 2020 proved very different as it did for all such events and the Burnham Art Trail moved online – although with 60 artists involved, in that respect it was the biggest yet.

Now in 2021 the event is moving back towards the real world, continuing with the virtual 'Armchair Art Trail'and while it won't include by any means all of the features of previous years – such as cake in back gardens and crowds watching live entertainment – the hope is that it will help mark a return to something resembling normal community life. Art from all those accepted will be exhibited in the Museum during art trail week, Covid permitting.

The event was the brainchild of Tracy Saunders, who was inspired by attending Riverfest, Burnham's 'International Music Festival', and an article on the need for a public relations person to bring more visitors to the town to help rejuvenate the High Street.

After talking to people including local artists, founder of the Leigh Art Trail, Richard Baxter, one of the organisers of Riverfest, Jane English, Henry Potton at The Burnham Museum, owners of High Street shops about giving up their shop windows for a week to display art - and with some funding help from Maldon District Council and Burnham-on-Crouch Town Council - the very first Burnham Art Trail took place in 2005.

There were 19 artists then and just 16 venues, with the event continuing to grow over the last 15 years.

Now Triss and Sharon and members of the Burnham Art Trail committee will be meeting in April to consider which submissions to this year's event will be successful. Then in May they will look again at the latest situation with regard to the pandemic and make decisions about the full nature and scope of what can happen this year.

The Burnham Art Trail 2021 will take place from Saturday, 19 June to Sunday, 27 June, and Triss and Sharon don't want to add features to the event that could cause disappointment if they have to be removed.

Triss says: "We're acting with caution to avoid disappointment. We don't want to plan things in that then have to come out. We would much rather review what we can do in May and then decide on anything else we might be able to do this year."

With the community's long hoped-for emergence from the pandemic, the 2021 Burnham Art Trail will surely prove a more welcome and important community event than ever before.

To find out more about the Burnham Art Trail, its history and this year's event visit the website using the link here.