Antique Fair

This Sunday, 26 October, the 35th annual Antique-Collectible Toy and Doll World Show will take place at Kane County Fairgrounds at 25 S. Randall Road, St. Charles. This is the largest doll and toy show in the world, attracting around 500 dealers. Exhibits include everything from action figures, banks, cast iron and lunch boxes, to lithographed toys, windups and more. You’ll find Barbies, bisque dolls, and character dolls, along with dollhouses and doll furniture. Entry will cost you $7 for adults, 12 and younger get in for free.

Next month, for three days (7-9 November), sixty of America’s top antiques dealers will be at the 2008 Delaware Antiques Show. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the show, which is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s top antiques events; it will be held at the Chase Center on the Riverfront in Wilmington.

Starting on Friday, September 19 at 10am the Stamford Meadows antiques fair opens for business. It finishes at 5pm on Friday and opens again on Saturday and Sunday 9am, finishing at 5pm Saturday and 4pm on Sunday. Admission is £3.50 adults, £3 OAPs, accompanied children free. Stamford Meadows are on the banks of the River Welland in the heart of Stamford and they’re expecting 100 dealers from all over the UK. They will set up  in the main marquee, as well as setting up their own marquees.

This Sunday, 7 September, at the Salt Ayre Sports Centre in Lancaster there's an antique and collector's fair, it's billed as the largest ever to be held in Lancaster. It will feature 150 stalls and run from 9.30 in the morning until 4.30 p.m. Admission is £2 for adults, £1 for OAPs/children, with under-12s free.

Europe’s largest antique fairs are the ones held at Newark in Nottinghamshire. They say that there are up to 4,000 stalls which take an awful lot of getting around! There next fair is tomorrow and Friday and opens at 9 a.m. on Thursday 7 August and at 8 a.m. on Friday 8 August. Every time I’ve been to the fair I’ve been amazed by both the volume of antiques and collectables and the sheer range that are for sale. If you miss these two days there’s another fair in early October and details of this and all their fairs are available

here

.In view of Sue's comments yesterday I think that she's probably got a point about fairs in August not being the ideal time of year. I think it's only established fairs like Newark that probably make sense. I suspect that the number of dealers and stallholders, even at Newark, may well be down on what they get in the spring and autumn.