For the next three fairs at the South of England Showground in November, January and February, and the December and February fairs at the Newark and Nottingham Showground, trade buyers who pre-register will receive a voucher entitling them to half price entry on the £20 trade day. At Newark buyers can also apply for the special admission prices of £7.50 on Friday and £3 on Saturday.
Buyers who pre-registered for discounts earlier this year should automatically be sent a voucher for the forthcoming fairs. Those who have yet to register can do so by completing an application form available online at www.dmgantiquefairs.com or from dmg fair offices.
Marketing controller Mike Turner commented, “We’ve re-introduced this promotional campaign to help our stallholders throughout the traditionally quieter winter months. We understand that trade is going through a difficult time at the moment and our aim is to boost the gate to help our stallholders.”
Kickstart
The discounted entry promotion was first introduced to kickstart the controversial decision to change the days of the Newark fair from a two-day Monday-Tuesday to a three-day Thursday-Saturday event. Half price entry to Ardingly followed in April.
After two discounted and one full-price fair in West Sussex, dmg have been able to give ATG an indication of how price-sensitive visitors have been. According to Mr Turner, while the April fair was up a massive 86 per cent against a three-year average for the trade day attendance, the July fair showed little change in turnout, while a return to a £20 admission saw the September trade gate marginally down on the norm.
The October Newark fair, the first to charge full admission fees (and introduce a new starting time of 11am, rather than noon, on Thursday) was getting underway at the time of going to press.
The fairs where the discount will apply are as follows: Ardingly International Antiques and Collectors Fair, November 1, January 10 and February 28; Newark International Antiques and Collectors Fair, December l-3 and February 2-4.
DMG bring back trade entry discount
DMG Antiques Fairs have announced the return of discounted trade entry for both the Newark and the Ardingly International Antiques and Collectors Fairs.
