If you’re the type to swing your car around at the sight of a Sharpie-scribbled “tag sale” sign stapled to a telephone pole, you won’t want to miss an annual event in Essex coming up Saturday, Aug. 6. Throughout the villages of Centerbrook, Essex, and Ivoryton, homeowners—and businesses, too—are coordinating for one concentrated day of sales. The Merchants Sidewalk Sale takes place Friday, Aug. 5 and Saturday, Aug. 6; the latter day coincides with the Town-Wide Tag Sale. Organized by the Essex Board of Trade, the two events draw bargain hunters from near and far.

A first for the Town-Wide Tag Sale, this year the Ivoryton Congregational Church will hold a tag sale from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the church parking lot.

“It’s a good cause for the Essex Board of Trade and it’s very good for the town as well,” said Isobel Allen of the Town-Wide Tag Sale.

Allen encouraged the Ivoryton church to join—along with some of her friends—and has participated since the event’s inception a few years back.

“This is something that I had hoped they’d do many years ago because of the one that happened in Chester,” she said. “I’ve been participating ever since they began doing it.”

Allen’s goal with the church’s tag sale is to provide a central location for churchgoers who want to participate, but live off the beaten path.

“Some of them live in areas where it’s not good to have a sale because they’re way back in the woods or there’s no parking,” she noted.

Beyond the bargains found at the tag sales, Allen considers the event a bargain for those participating, too.

“All the advertising is done for me and I don’t need to put posters up. It’s well worth the $20 fee,” she said. “I think everybody that gets on the map is very successful in their sale, too. It’s a lot busier than if you were to just do it on your own.”

While the Town-Wide Tag Sale is relatively new to Essex, the sidewalk sale has a longer history.

“I think it’s an old tradition in small towns,” said Bill Walker of Walker-Loden in Essex.

Walker-Loden has participated for 25 years in sidewalk sales at its Madison location; this will be its second year participating at its newest shop in Essex.

“It’s a little excitement in the hot days of summer, or just a reason for people come into town, and it’s a nice sense of community because everybody does it at the same time. What’s interesting in Essex is that they combine it with tag sales, which is sort of an interesting twist on all of this.”

There are seasonal reasons for retailers to participate, too.

“By the end of summer you’d better be starting to think about Christmas merchandise,” Walker noted. “It’s a way to clear off your shelves, move out some of the merchandise and make room for the new.”

Walker’s sale, featuring “a little bit of everything,” will take place under a tent in the shop’s side yard, with some items inside the shop on sale, too.

“We had a good turnout last year and I hope we will again this year,” he commented. “You’re subject to the weather, although there are people who will come out for bargains no matter what.”

According to Amy Cameron, owner of Newbury Place in Essex, most of the shops in Essex participate in the sidewalk sale.

“I would say that about three-quarters of the stores participate in some fashion,” Camerson said, “and because the sidewalk sale is the same weekend as the town-wide tag sale, we get a lot of out-of-towners as well as locals.

“If you haven’t been to Essex in a while, the annual sidewalk sale is always a great day to visit Main Street, Essex,” she continued. “We are lucky here in the village to have a variety of clothing stores as well as some fantastic gift shops, a new olive oil store, antique shops, and art galleries.”

Essex Board of Trade Sidewalk Sale and Town-Wide Tag Sale

Sidewalk Sale: Friday, Aug. 5 and

Saturday, Aug. 6

Town-Wide Tag Sale: Saturday, Aug. 6

Find maps a few days before the event at:

Ivoryton Farmers’ Market, Ivoryton Town Park

Essex Hardware, 6 Main Street, Centerbrook

J. Alden, 17 Main Street, Essex

Essex Plaza Laundry, 1 Essex Plaza

Olive Oyl’s, 77 Main Street, Essex

For more information, visit http://essexct.com/

event/town-wide-sidewalk-tag-sale.