FISHERTON Street Festival is heading back to the city in 2019.

Traders in and around Fisherton Street have announced a revived initiative to bring shoppers back into Salisbury with a focus on the Western side of the City Centre by launching "Fisherton Festival Fortnight" which will run from Monday 29th April to Sunday 12th May 2019.

The news will be welcomed by the thousands of people who enjoyed the event for two years before it was shelved.

Steve Dauwalder, the businessman behind the event said: "The event will feature many of the specialist businesses and facilities in Fisherton Street, Bridge Street, Malthouse Lane and The Maltings with different events ranging from street entertainers, competitions, featured shops and eateries along with specialists markets taking place each day.

"The peak of the event will be a repeat of the highly successful Fisherton Festival which will take place on May Day Bank Holiday Monday May 6th."

This event was a great success in 2015 and 2016 bringing more than 10,000 extra people into Salisbury City Centre on a single day.

It brought music, dance, entertainment, food & drink from both the local area and cultures from around the world and was thought to be one of the biggest street parties ever held in Wiltshire.

Mr Dauwalder said "local traders wanted a distinctive build up to Festival Day, with the momentum continuing afterwards, hence the Fortnight of events and celebrations was born."

He went on to say "this will not only be a full fortnight of activities driven by the organisers but many individual businesses will be also be running their own features and activities throughout the fortnight".

The event hadn't taken place during 2017 or 2018 due to funding issues. Salisbury BID have always been very supportive towards the event. It is hoped that the local authorities will be in a better position this time through the "Salisbury is Open for Business" initiatives.

Deborah Fox, Owner of Fisherton Mill said, "A new look Fisherton Festival Fortnight will be a great boost to the City in 2019.

"At the previous events it was wonderful to see so many people enjoying themselves on our street and with the extended event it will give many more opportunities for people to linger and explore the diverse range of products and services on offer whilst enjoying live music and being entertained. Fisherton Mill very much looks forward to being involved in the 2 week event as well as the business opportunities such an event brings" .

The organisers have said that Fisherton Fortnight will not survive on authoritative funding alone, saying "due to the Festivals previous success it leaves open great opportunities for Commercial Sponsorship. We had great support from local small businesses last time whilst the Multiples benefit massively - it would be great to see some of the chains or brands get behind this".

For any organisation seeking more information on sponsorship, please request a sponsorship pack by emailing steve@fishertonfestival.co.uk .