With Fall Fest in the Village on Saturday, local businesses are inviting residents to shop local.

Anthi Frangiadis, who owns the Drawing Room and an architecture firm at 11 Spring St., came up with the idea as a way to offer something special to customers and to encourage people to stop by.

“I thought if we did it collectively as a group of businesses, we’d get more people to come out,” said Frangiadis.

At the Drawing Room, artists Kim Morin Weineck and Skip Waite will demonstrate their artwork beginning at 1 p.m.

Weineck, a summer resident, will draw in pastels while Waite, a Marion resident, will demonstrate his intricate wood carvings. Both will also sell their artwork.

The Marion Bookstall is also participating, and “chief book elf” Linda Clifford said she hopes the event will encourage people to discover what each shop offers.

“I hope that what it will do is make people aware that, in their midst, in a very short ride, they have a village that is vibrant,” she said.

With so many online supersites and chain stores, Clifford said independent bookstores and other small businesses sometimes feel they’re “swimming up stream.”

“We can’t compete with them, and we don’t try. We’re not Amazon,” Clifford said. “We have our own brand of hospitality that occurs in the store. I think that’s what keeps people coming back generationally.”

On Saturday, the Bookstall, located at 151 Front Street, will offer a 25 percent discount on books, while across the street Kate’s Simple Eats will have free beer tastings from Buzzard’s Bay Brewery.

Owner Kate Ross said she will also serve up some autumnal “nibbles” and a sale at her adjacent shop, Dean Ross Home.

Ross said events such as Fall Fest in the Village show how much the town has to offer.

“Doing this provides a nice opportunity to celebrate how cute and quaint Marion is,” she said. “We’re not just a summer town. It’s gorgeous in the fall, too!”