Latest News Articles by Joan Porter

York racecourse venue hosts book event hailed as the largest-ever PBFA event in the city
10 September 2018“The numbers are up to maximum capacity at 226 stands and there are a further 10 stands for calligraphers, marbled paper dealers and bookbinders – it’s the largest ever,” said York bookseller Janette Ray, spokeswoman for PBFA’s annual two-day York Book Fair.

Pickering welcomes a new antiques centre
10 September 2018The welcome news of an antiques centre opening a few doors from one which closed last year comes from the market town of Pickering in North Yorkshire.

Organisers head Wembley way
10 September 2018Alison Davis and Alan Old, who run So Last Century, organiser of quality, 20th century vintage markets at three venues in south London, are heading up north.

Praise the Lord: new antiques centre and salvage yard opened in Yorkshire
10 September 2018Former child actor Bretten Lord is maybe best known for his role as Tom Proctor in 'Lad: A Yorkshire Story' (2013), made when he was a young teenager and for which he won a best actor award in the US.

Antiques centre opens in Essex
03 September 2018It’s always good to hear about the opening of a new antiques centre. Essex businessman Ken Hewitt has seized an opportunity to launch his venture in the medieval town of Manningtree, described by the local tourist association as “a gateway to Constable country”.

Organiser still has the fair bug after three year break
03 September 2018An organiser has missed running his antiques fairs so much that he has started another.

Catalogue hides a Canova
03 September 2018An intriguing item with important international artistic links is on offer at Towy Fairs’ Carmarthen Antiques and Fleamarket on Sunday, September 9.

Revel in Art Deco heritage at Eltham Palace fair
27 August 2018Thirty dealers will be showing off the many striking elements of Art Deco at English Heritage’s two-day fair on Saturday and Sunday, September 8-9.

Saddle up for Art Car Boot Fair at King’s Cross
27 August 2018The annual Art Car Boot Fair, now in its 15th year, will run this month in Granary Square in London’s revitalised King’s Cross area.

New chapters boost business of book fair
27 August 2018Kim Jeffery, who with husband George runs Etc Fairs, described by one exhibitor as “the Stock Exchange of bookselling”, is upbeat about her upcoming book fair in Bloomsbury.

Why organisers love a waiting list
20 August 2018Demand for two racecourse fairs in the south stays strong since launch a couple of years ago...

Cornwall fair focus on family appeal
20 August 2018As well as 150 inside stands and up to a few hundred outside, plenty more is in the mix at the Antique Fairs Cornwall event over the August Bank Holiday weekend at the Wadebridge Showground in north Cornwall.

Bath event means it’s market day
20 August 2018The monthly Bath Vintage & Antiques Market at the city’s listed Victorian Green Park Station is now in its seventh year.

York greets card dealers
20 August 2018The annual two-day York Card Expo International at York Racecourse, which runs this year on Friday and Saturday, August 31-September 1, is now in its 29th year.

East London market relaunches as vintage
13 August 2018Described in Time Out earlier this year as a place where “high art and innovation meet”, Hackney in east London, with Shoreditch and Hoxton round the corner, has dozens of independent shops, cafes and markets.

Another glass act from the Bishops fair organising duo
13 August 2018Organisers launch new fair in Suffolk after long-standing event had to be abandoned.

West Yorkshire racecourse event ready for the off in August
13 August 2018Alan Cartwright’s two-day antiques and vintage fair at Wetherby Racecourse in West Yorkshire has been a strong runner in his Jaguar Fairs’ portfolio since he took it over in 2001. It now attracts up to 300 exhibitors at each of the three annual events.

Hemswell heads back to 1940s
13 August 2018The idea to stage a 1940s weekend of events at Hemswell Antique Centres near Gainsborough in Lincolnshire in late July to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the RAF came from some of the dealers based there.

More Bangor for your buck as vintage festival is held
06 August 2018Every year in the seaside town of Bangor, south of Belfast, a small, local and dedicated team puts on an ambitious month-long programme of concerts, dance, arts and literary events, plus food and wine evenings.

French connections: two picturesque towns hosting antiques fairs
06 August 2018France remains one of the most popular holiday destinations for UK residents. If you want to combine an antiques/vintage buying trip with a holiday in either Provence or the Haute-Savoie this month, then a visit to two of the regions’ most attractive towns might feature high on the itinerary.