Fairs, Markets, Shops and Centres

Organisers call it a day in the south coast town but other events they hold have experienced a rise in footfall

It’s always heartening to hear about the repurposing of old buildings, particularly when they become antiques businesses.

Run since 2017, The Yorkshire Flea, run by Helen Bowman and Ben Wray, comprises popular Sunday events in two auction marts three times a year in North Yorkshire.

A lively antiques and collectables market has run weekly for the past 40 years in Cirencester’s 19th century Corn Hall in the centre of the town.

Established last year, a vintage and antiques fair which ran at the River and Rowing Museum in Henley is relocating to Lillibrooke Manor in Cox Green, Maidenhead, due to the museum’s permanent closure last month.

Biannual Herefordshire fair now in its 12th year is held in a large marquee at country house location

The huge fair in in Nottinghamshire is still renowned for its sheer scale, diverse visitor base and key selling opportunities

Launched in 2009, the annual 'London Antique & Vintage Textile Fair' run by the Textile Society will welcome 60-plus dealers to Chelsea Old Town Hall on Sunday, October 12, where the room will be crammed with textiles from the sedate 18th century to the swinging 1960s.

Such a spark has been ignited by Mark Farhall’s pop-up Giant London Fleas held in the car park at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park sports complex in Hackney, east London, that he’s launching another.

Lomax Fairs holds several events in schools now and the latest in Suffolk has been warmly welcomed

Visitors will be packing the aisles at Grandma’s Attic’s antiques and collectors’ fair at Woking Leisure Centre on Sunday, October 5, where among the 160 confirmed stallholders, 30-plus are selling specifically Art Deco and Nouveau plus Mid-century stock.

“We’ve had a good year,” said Clive Baker, organiser of the biannual two-day South of England Postcard Fair run on behalf of the Postcard Traders Associatiom (PTA).

When American Footballer Travis Kelce proposed last month in a flower-bedecked arbour to singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, much of the press focus was on the heritage and rarity of the ring.

With its expansive lawns, walled garden and riverside meadow, the Grade I-listed Grantham House, a townhouse hidden away in the centre of the Lincolnshire place of the same name, is the perfect spot for an antiques event.

Among the logistical challenges many fair organisers face is the scheduling and sometimes rescheduling of dates at their chosen venues.

Although Old Bank Antiques in Royal Wootton Bassett closed on August 25, this is “likely to be a short-term measure, maybe six months,” says owner Jon White.

Fair near Salisbury launched in 2022 has come to an end but regular exhibitors are stepping in for fresh stagings

While a Rowntree centenary brings historic interest, exhibitors are also focused on attracting fresh faces

Another day, another pop-up for So Last Century Fairs, which is trying out a new vintage market in London on Saturday, September 6.

A monthly newsletter sent out by interiors dealer Philip Crosthwaite, organiser of the Easton Antiques Fair in Norwich, is now reaching 2000 subscribers.