Latest News Articles by Joan Porter
Sandown Park event develops a taste for the continental
29 October 2018The toy fair at Sandown Park in November is usually “the busiest one of the four we hold there each year”, says Barry Potter, founder in 1979 of BP Fairs, which first launched at this racecourse venue 31 years ago.
Fleamarket leaps onto south London street
29 October 2018Launched in 2016, the fleamarket which runs every weekend at Flat Iron Square around seven railway arches on London’s Bankside in Southwark Street, SE1, has now extended into adjacent Union Street.
Two become one: Fair organisers react as Arthur Swallow Fairs shift to single-day events
22 October 2018Schedule change for Lincolnshire Showground marks a shift in strategy but other organisers are more cautious.
Romsey fair faces delay
22 October 2018Grandma’s Attic Fairs has had to postpone its fair at the Potters Heron Hotel in Romsey, Hampshire, due to take place on Sunday, October 28.
Stand rates reduced as Swallow’s Lincolnshire show becomes four one-day events in 2019
22 October 2018Arthur Swallow Fairs has announced a significant change in the format of its antiques and home fairs held at the Lincolnshire Showground.
Fairs report full houses amid strong dealer demand
22 October 2018“The only downside to the fair is that we are having to turn dealers away.”
Why plastic can also be fantastic when it comes to toys
15 October 2018Plastic has gained a bad name when it comes to the environment – clogging up oceans for a start.
Buyers sniff out perfume bottles
15 October 2018Vivienne Knight and Vanessa Turner are two specialist dealers in perfume bottles who will be setting out their vibrant stalls at the two-day International Perfume Bottle Association’s UK convention.
Buxton fair having a ball once again
15 October 2018The long-awaited relaunch of Halcyon Fairs’ antiques fair at the restored Victorian Octagon ballroom in Buxton’s Pavilion Gardens has finally arrived.
Wexford fair in tune with opera festival event
15 October 2018Since the first Festival of Music and the Arts took place in 1951, the annual Wexford Festival Opera in the south-east Irish town has specialised in neglected works and has become one of the world’s leading opera festivals.
BiblioMania in Paris looks at the appliance of science
08 October 2018Science fiction is the theme for the 110-dealer BiblioMania in Paris’ 17th arrondissement, held at the Espace Champerret from Wednesday to Sunday, October 17-21.
London mid-century fair takes film focus
08 October 2018Midcentury East is back in London’s East End with its biannual selling show at the Brutalist-Modernist Haggerston School on Sunday, October 14.
Family businesses fare well in the East of England
08 October 2018Fair organising runs in the family for Gary Sheridan and his daughter Emma.
Collecting field to relight the fire
08 October 2018Despite the fact that smoking cigarettes has been ostracised, the rise in interest for vintage smoking paraphernalia has increased.
Setting the clock for IACF Newark
01 October 2018British Horological Institute among exhibitors for ‘biggest of the year’ October showground fair.
Frock Me! venue given fresh look for this autumn
01 October 2018Matthew Adams’ monthly Frock Me! vintage fairs returns to Chelsea Old Town Hall on Sunday, October 7 after an extensive refurbishment at the hall this summer.
Discover Vintage, and an Ercol commission, in Leeds
24 September 2018Trading as Discover Vintage, Keeley Harris runs shows in Coventry, Manchester and Leeds – the next on Sunday October 7 at the 1970s-built Pudsey Civic Hall, on the outskirts of Leeds.
Young visitor numbers on the rise at Bloomsbury pen fair
24 September 2018The annual London Writing Equipment Show at the Holiday Inn in Bloomsbury on Sunday October 7 will be a sell-out, says coorganiser Jeremy Collingridge.
Kempton antique arms fair going great guns
24 September 2018There is a full load of arms fairs this month including the Antiques Arms Fair at Olympia on September 29 (see Dealers’ Diary, ATG No 2359) and the now triannual Kempton Vintage and Classic Arms Fair. Launched at Kempton Park Racecourse last year, it followed the demise in 2016 of the specialist event held for many years at the National Shooting Centre in Bisley.
Flea market gets rebranded from antiques to upmarket
24 September 2018Based just outside Norwich, Holly Graham is a music teacher, singer and a director of assorted local theatre groups including the city’s Threshold Theatre Company.