Newark Militaria Fair bites the dust

The militaria fair held at

Newark is no more, after losses from Covid cancellations and ongoing restrictions made the event uneconomical. The organiser, Mark Askew, released the following explanation on the show’s website: ‘Its time to call it a day! After a lot of soul-searching, thinking and re-thinking and weighing up all the costs and work involved in running this show.

My heart says yes, keep doing it! My brain, bank manager and accountant say, you must be mad. Hence, I have decided to call it a day after almost 10 years.’

Mark laid the blame firmly on the Covid pandemic, with both the losses incurred in 2020 and the risk of future shows being cancelled again. Mark also explained that he didn’t want to put on a show that might be responsible for spreading the disease and putting the health of staff, friends, traders and the public at risk.

There is the possibility that someone else will step in to buy the show or that it may come back at some point in the future when the pandemic is long since past but for now, that’s it for the Newark Militaria Fair.

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