Fairs and Markets

Lucy Haywood organises country brocantes at assorted venues in West Sussex.

As we announced in April, fair organiser Matthew Adams of Adams Antique Fairs is relaunching an event at Chelsea Town Hall this month which he last held in 2005.

Though an assortment of highprofile sales took place at the recent TEFAF New York Fall, some participants reported that business was markedly slower than in other editions.

News of two fairs happening this month in Ayr and Benson.

Little Vintage Lover Fairs, aka Zoe Durrant, runs events at venues across Norfolk including the privately owned village of Heydon, near Norwich.

Fine Arts Paris is the young November arrival on the fairs scene in the French capital. Launched last year, it celebrates its second staging in a new venue with a much enlarged exhibitor list.

So Last Century Vintage and Retro Fairs, aka dealers Alison Davis and Alan Old, run their popular south London events in Catford, at two locations in Beckenham and in Tooting.

An atmospheric black and grey ink painting by Henri Joseph Harpignies (1819-1916) is one of the works on offer at The Pavilions of Harrogate Decorative, Antiques & Art Fair (November 2-4).

One of the highlights of the upcoming International Antique Doll, Teddy Bear and Toy Fair: 200 Years of Childhood at Kensington Town Hall will be an exhibition of toys to commemorate the centenary on November 11 of the end of the First World War.

The 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.

This large, rare Victorian doorstop depicting Charles Edward Stuart, or Bonnie Prince Charlie as it is inscribed, is offered by Malcolm Eglin Antiques for £395 at the next Galloway fair.

Launched 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.

This year’s winter Olympia runs simultaneously with a festive fair on the level below.

Schedule change for Lincolnshire Showground marks a shift in strategy but other organisers are more cautious.

Arthur Swallow Fairs has announced a significant change in the format of its antiques and home fairs held at the Lincolnshire Showground.

“The only downside to the fair is that we are having to turn dealers away.”