Fairs and Markets

Weather forecasters say that the Easter weekend is likely to be a sizzler and as this is a traditionally mega-busy time on the fairs and market scene there may be cheers all round across the bank holiday. Here is a short snapshot of a few events.

Managing director of IACF William Thomas is building up the momentum to the bumper crowds which are expected this Easter at the two-day 'Peterborough Festival of Antiques'.

Galloway Antiques Fairs is back in North Yorkshire this spring for its Duncombe Park event.

Now UK restrictions on international travellers have eased, the organisers of The Art & Antiques for Everyone (AAfE) fair at the NEC Birmingham are hoping for a return of buyers from further afield.

Exhibitors at the trade showpiece TEFAF Maastricht will pay significantly more for their stands this summer despite the fair being smaller and shorter than in previous years.

The Art & Antiques Fair Olympia returns for its first in-person summer event in two years – at lower prices than before the pandemic.

There are many sounds which you might hear in an antiques centre: dealers moving objects around for display, customers talking as they enthuse over the stock and the regular ringing of tills.

The French fairs calendar has developed a certain rhythmical repetition over the years but this has been changed as Covid restrictions necessitate cancellations and postponements.

News earlier this month of the discovery of Endurance, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s expedition ship, in the icy waters of the Weddell Sea in Antarctica, will surely have made the hearts of dealers and collectors of polar material beat a little faster.

Newmarket and Yorkshire events feature in this round up of fairs news

Old Masters dealers on the international fairs circuit have a robust range of exhibiting options ahead, despite nearly two years of pandemic-related disruption.

Stall-holders report brisk trade during the latest staging of the huge West Sussex event

Cornish event hosted in historic house and grounds will now be staged twice a year.

Traders look forward to fairs such as Bath after numerous challenges of sourcing new items

Launching on Sunday, April 3, in the West Sussex town of Midhurst is Phoenix Fairs’ vintage, antique and militaria fair.

The organiser of The Open Art Fair (TOAF) in Chelsea vows the event will return next year.

A painting of the Battle of Trafalgar containing “one of the most important portraits of Nelson on the market in years” will be on offer in Chelsea.

Among the highlights at this month’s Connect Art Fair is an untitled c.1968/71 gouache on paper by British-Guyanese artist Aubrey Williams, offered for £4500 by Middlemarch Art.

Society announces Carmarthen event dates and stall and entry prices to be held at 2019 level.