List of Vintage, Antique and Collectable Fairs in May 2013

Once again its time for the list that helps you plan your vintage month.  All these fairs are taking place in May and where possible I have included their websites for you check opening times etc.

To kick off we have Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair at Old Spitalfields Market.  It is on Saturday 4th May and doors open at 11am.  There will be 100 stalls offering everything from 100 years of affordable fashion, Flapper through to swinging 60s, vintage accessories, vintage furniture and homewares, menswear, upcycled and handmade and sales rails galore.  Judy's fairs are well known and travel round the country offering different vintage experiences so check out there websites for other dates and towns.

Sunday 5th May sees a fair that I haven't heard of before.  Blighty Boutique Vintage and Handmade Fair is being held at Hatton Village Hall, Warwickshire and doors open 11am.  Two of my fellow stallholders who I have met through doing these fairs, Stephen and Judy from All things Vintage and Beautiful will have a stand there and they always sell the most wonderful items, I think I buy a little something from them everytime!

Arun Fair - Woodland Centre

  
Arun Fairs run several fairs around Sussex and the first of the monthly is the monthly Woodland Centre Fair in Rustington.  Held on the first Sunday of every month the next fair is Sunday 5th May and doors open 10am.  50 stalls selling antiques and collectables.

Arun Fairs - Goodwood

Bank holiday Monday 6th May is Arun Fairs, Goodwood Racecourse Antiques and Collectables fair.  Doors open 9am and there are about 300 stalls.

I can't wait for this one!  The beautiful Brocante Antique and Decorative Fair is held once a year and this year the venue is the stunning Nonsuch Mansion in Cheam, Surrey.  This promises to be a visually stunning day out with 50 stallholders selling the best in vintage and Antiques.  Doors open at 9.30 on Thursday 9th May.  You can prebook your tickets with VIP parking by clicking the link to organiser Nikki Page's website.  Do try and make this one if you can and make a full day of it, enjoy the vintage and antiques and your surroundings, lets hope the sun shines!

 The monthly Cuckfield Vintage Emporium is back on Friday 10th May at the Queen's Hall, Cuckfield.  Doors open 11am.  Very nice monthly fair with a good selection of dealers, preloved clothes and wonderful tea room.  Cuckfield is also nice to have a stroll around afterwards!

Imagine 3 whole days to indulge in your antique, vintage and collectable obsession.  Well you don't have to imagine anymore as IACF is hosting the 3 day Shepton Mallet Antiques and Collectors Fair on Friday 10th May through until Sunday 12th May.  It hosts up to 600 stands and there is bound to be something for everyone.  Doors open 12pm on the Friday.  Check opening times for Sat and Sun.

Saturday 11th May sees the next Pop-Up Vintage at a new venue in Lewes.  This time the fair is at Lewes Town Hall and doors open 10.30am.  Over 60 stallholders offering a range of vintage and collectables plus Lewes has an amazing array of Antique shops if you still need your fix!

The Country Vintage and Artisan Bazaar  is on Sunday 12th May at Ripley Village Hall.  Doors open 11am.  This promises to have stalls with unique vintage ware, amazing artisan work and of course tasty treats after all that shopping!

Sunbury Antiques Market

Tuesday 14th May sees the first Sunbury Antiques Fair of the month.  As always entry and parking are free and doors open at 6.30am.

The annual Decorative Living Fair is on Thursday 16th May at Eridge Park and you can get an earlybird ticket for 9.30am or a standard ticket for entry at 11.30am.  Check out the website and Facebook page as the photos of previous fairs look amazing.  Well worth a day out especially if the sun is shining and you can sit and relax after all the shopping and enjoy the Kent countryside with a little glass of something!

Saturday 18th May is the day for a brand new fair organised by Emily of Love Emily Vintage.  This brand new fair is The Vintage and Artisan Carousel.  Doors open at 11am at the Village Hall in Dial Post.  This looks to be an exciting new fair with lots to see and do including a vintage tea parlour, Betty the Vintage Scoops Ice Cream Van, music from Hannah Summers and of course lots and lots of vintage and handmade!  Entry is free and so is parking.

Sandown Park Antiques Fair is on Sunday 19th May and a great opportunity to go to one of their fairs if you can't make their Tuesday ones.  Doors open 10am and there are 150 indoor stalls plus outdoor stalls.

The Annual Midsummer Fair is held in the beautiful grounds of Trading Boundaries in aid of St Peter & St James Hospice and is being held on Friday 24th May, doors open 10am. It sounds as though it will be a wonderful collection of over 34  Decorative Living, Vintage, Garden, Gifts, Fashion & Food stands.  Plus they have a Live Band, Champagne Bar and tea Tent.  Trading Boundaries has Indian & contemporary furniture and there are a collection of Boutiques with Fashion, Children clothes, Toys, Garden Shop  and Cafe/Restaurant in the Courtyard .  Entry to the Fair is £3 (under 16s and after 3.30pm free)

 

I've been looking forward to this one all year.  Its the Original Vintage and Handmade Fair back again at The Town Hall, Chipping Sodbury.  Doors open at 10am on Saturday 25th May and you can expect to find all the usual quality of vintage and handmade goods on offer. A list of stallholders can be found on their website, click the link above. I loved this fair when I did it last year and you can read about my time here.  I am hoping that this time my car doesn't break down a mile away from the venue!

The Vintage and Very Nice Market Bazaar  is back on Saturday 25th May at the Assembly Rooms, Chichester.  Doors open 10am.  Entry is free and there is a large range of vintage and crafts people bringing you everything you need to create your vintage home.

Sunday 26th May sees the first ever Vintage and Retro Fair organised by Belle's Events.  Doors open 12pm at the Drill Hall, Horsham.  There will be vintage make overs, photo booth boutique, tea room, lots of vintage goodies PLUS you can also have a go at some V&R crafts in the Vintage and Retro Makers' corner.  Sounds like a great day out.

Arun fairs - Fontwell Racecourse

Bank Holiday Monday 27th May is Arun Fairs Fontwell Racecourse Fair where you will find 250+ stalls.  Doors open 9am

The last Sunbury Antiques Fair of the month is Tuesday 28th May.  Doors open 6.30am

Last but by no means least is the wonderful Village-Vintage. A huge two day event held at Plumpton Racecourse on Friday 31st May and Saturday 1st June, doors open at 10am.  This was the first fair I had a stall at and I can't recommend it enough.  Full to the brim of quality vintage and handmade stalls this is a great day out.  To read abut my experience please click here.  Even though I don't have a stall I will be first in the queue as I can't wait to see whats on offer.

The fairs I have listed this month look to be wonderful events and well worth a visit especially the annual ones.  Please feel free to share any experience you have of these fairs, I'd love to hear your views.

As always please check the websites for times and venues and if you know of any other fairs which you think should be listed please feel free to contact me.

Happy Hunting! :)

Vintage by nina book review

I have had the heading Vintage Book Review on my blog for quite a while now so I decided it was about time that I actually wrote one.  I bought this book a couple of months ago but first heard about it last year on Facebook.  I put it in my Amazon wish list and waited.  Waited for it to come down in price and for the English version to become available.  Neither of those things happened so I could resist no longer and had to buy it.  As you may have realised by the title of my blog, the book is called Vintage by nina and is written by the Danish interior stylist and antiques dealer, Nina Hartmann.

 Nina collaborated with Swedish Photographer Maria Isabel Hansson and it is a seamless partnership.  Maria appears to understand Nina's visions and the results are electric.

Vintage by nina

So first things first, do you want the good or bad news?  Well I'll get the bad news out the way first.  The bad news is, this book is not in English.  The good news is, who cares!  They say a picture is worth a thousand words and boy do these photos speak a thousand words in any language.

Vintage by nina - angel wings

There are angel wings

Vintage by nina -pierrot

Pierrot dolls

Vintage by nina

Vintage by nina - fabric boxes

Fabrics and fabric boxes

Vintage by nina - globe de mariee

Globes de Mariee

Vintage by nina - mannequins

Old mannequins

Vintage by nina - corsets

Old corsets

Vintage by nina - ballet dresses

 Beautiful frothy ballet dresses.

When the book came through the door I eagerly unwrapped it and instantly fell in love.  The photos above are just a very small portion of what the book offers but it takes you through every room in the house and all the items are 100% vintage and antique.  All the items were sourced from flea markets around Europe and I seriously need to find out where they are.  Nina has an amazing eye for detail and you can understand why she is one of the most celebrated stylists in Scandinavia.  You can find her vintage and antique items on her website, vintagebynina.com and she has also has a showroom in Stolkholm.

The thing I love about this book is the fact that you can tell all the items are genuine antique or vintage.  They aren't vintage or antique style but the real thing and for me I can feel that in every page.  You can feel the history of the objects coming through the pages and somehow they feel tactile as though you can imagine how they would feel and smell.  That I suppose is the magic of Maria's photography, bringing every item alive and allowing you to live vicariously through the pages.  I do have a lot of interiors books but for me this book stands alone and is in a league of its own.  Who cares it isn't in English.  It allows you to use your imagination and for that words aren't necessary.  Goddamit she even makes chopping boards interesting!

Vintage by nina

I found this book to be incredibly inspiring and I could feel the fire in my belly telling me to get out there and find as many wonderful, unusual and beautiful objet d'art as possible.  We can't all have the vision that Nina has but we have our own creativity and its important to nurture it any way you can and for me that means staying true to what I love and not what other people tell me is fashionable or the right look. Reading books like this should inspire us to create our own style in a way that celebrates our personalities.

Vintage by nina

If you are desperate to read it in English then I suggest you make friends with Google Translate!  Failing that why don't you pop over to Eliza Interiors and Design as she was the only person over here that I could find with any copies for sale in the English version.  I'm not sure she still has any but may be worth an email.  I decided to stick to this version as the English one was double the price and to be honest the photographs were what I wanted to see (there was even a photo of a cat, can this woman do no wrong!)

Vintage by nina

This book is beautiful and deserves to be read when you know you have time without interruptions, when you can sit in peace and quiet and absorb the wonderful photography.  You owe it to yourself to put your phone on silent, put your feet up and relax in the surroundings of Nina's Vintage.

I should make it clear that all the images are from Vintage by nina and the above photos are taken by me of said images for the purpose of this blog.