Plan your antiquing year
It’s time to pull out your 2019 calendar and note the vintage and antiques fairs and !eas you plan to a "end. A good way to organise the next 12 months of antiquing is to work out which events are right for you…
The Flea If you are someone who wants to shop in an environmentally friendly and affordable way, you’ll find flea markets suit you particularly well. Most are held monthly or every couple of months, such as The Giant Shepton Flea Market ( sheptonflea.com) in Somerset, held about seven Sundays a year, and Malvern Flea ( b2bevents.
info), held most months.
The Classic Antiques Fair These events fall somewhere between a flea market and an upmarket fair, are the most plentiful and have a broad range of vintage as well as antiques and collectables. Some of our favourites include Adams Antiques Fair in London (every month except August;
adamsantiquesfairs.com), Newark International Antiques & Collectors Fair (Jan, April, May, Aug, Oct & Dec; iacf.
co.uk), Sunbury Antiques Market at Kempton Park Racecourse (second and last Tuesday every month;
sunburyantiques.com), the antiques fair at the National Botanic Garden of Wales (Jan, April, July & Oct;
derwenantiques.co.uk), Antiques in Tents in Herefordshire (May & Oct;
antiquesintents.co.uk) and Lincolnshire Antiques & Home Show (April, May, Aug, Oct & Dec; asfairs.com), which will now be held on Wednesdays (except the weekend event in August) to complement the Newark fairs on Thursdays and Fridays.
Art & Collectors These are the more high-end affairs where you’ll find lighting, glass cases and serious antiques. These events tend to have fewer dealers, who will have been carefully selected and vetted. Events in this category include the BADA fair
( bada.org) in March, The Art & Antiques Fair Olympia, London ( olympia-art-antiques.com) in June, The Pavilions of Harrogate Antiques & Fine Art Fair (Jan, May & Nov; cooperevents.com), the Burford Antiques Fair, Oxfordshire ( penman-fairs.co.uk) in July and the Scone Palace antiques fair ( gallowayfairs.co.uk) in March and November.
Vintage & Mid-Century For those who are firmly in the 20th-century style camp, these events are a must. Check out Midcentury Modern at Dulwich College, London ( modernshows.com) in March and November, The Little Vintage Lover Fair ( littlevintageloverfair.co.uk) in Norfolk in May and August, the Vintage Home Show ( vintagehomeshow.co.uk) in Leeds in March and October, and Manchester in March, June and October, Firle Vintage Fair ( firlevintagefair.co.uk) in East Sussex in August and the ever so delightful Country Brocante events held throughout the year in and around West Sussex and the Cotswolds ( thecountrybrocante.co.uk).
Decorative, Architectural &
Salvage Finds at these events tend to be conversation-worthy or practical when decorating or renovating a home. We love the Bath Decorative Antiques Fair in March ( bathdecorativeantiquesfair.co.uk), the Bruton Decorative Antiques Fair in October ( brutondecorativeantiquesfair.co.uk), the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair, London (Jan, April & Oct; decorative fair.com), and The Decorative Home & Salvage Shows held around the UK in the summer months ( asfairs.com).