As reported in last week’s ATG, the fairs trade was thrown into disarray by the government’s announcement on September 22 that venues hosting conferences and exhibitions would not be reopening on October 1 as had been previously expected.
Those events using other premises may find a way to proceed. Dovehouse Fine Antiques Fairs can now go ahead with its event on October 18 (see below), while the Kempton Classic Arms Fair, due to run on October 4 at Kempton Park Racecourse, moved instead to Sandown Park Racecourse which has a much larger indoor space for social distancing requirements – report to follow.
Jane Alexander of Dovehouse Fine Antiques Fairs recently received the green light for her 50-dealer antiques event in the three halls at the Dorking Halls on Sunday, October 18.
She said: “The fair will be social distance-compliant including monitoring the numbers of people within each hall and offering online advance purchase of timed ticket entry via our website or the Dorking Halls.”
Alexander added: “Dorking Halls have been a tremendous help.
There is much to comply with but it helps to give both standholders and visitors confidence in attending a well-organised indoor event, not to mention the safety of staff.”
