First 'Shop the Block' highlights small businesses on Portsmouth's High Street

PORTSMOUTH, Va. - Organizers say more than 60 vendors joined the many brick-and-mortar shops along Portsmouth's High Street on Saturday for a first-ever festival highlighting the area's small businesses.

"Shop the Block High Street Festival" saw three blocks of High Street in Downtown Portsmouth shut down to traffic.

Instead, visitors were welcome to walk from shop to shop, visit with vendors and grab some food in the city's center of culture.

The event was organized in partnership with Portsmouth Economic Development and sponsored by Rivers Casino.

Co-Producer Danielle Berwick says the goal of "Shop the Block" was to help the neighborhood's eclectic mix of small businesses reach more people within city boundaries and across the region. She tells News 3 that tolled tunnels being the quickest for many to reach Portsmouth can be challenging to work around.

"They don’t want to pay the toll, but I really just believe we have to continue to bring events like this here," said Berwick. "People don’t mind paying the toll or driving to come, if there’s a reason to come, so doing something like this will bring more people this way."

Berwick says the plan is for "Shop the Block" to become an annual event.