Fair goers entering the NEC Birmingham at an Art & Antiques for Everyone event pre-2020.
The inaugural edition of Classic Antique Fairs, launched by dealer John Andrews, was due to run from December 8-10 (ATG No 2602).
However, it will now run from December 1-3 at the former home of Art & Antiques for Everyone, which closed last year.
Stoneleigh revived
Andrews made the change to NEC Birmingham after IACF announced two new events for Stoneleigh running in March and October 2024.
He told ATG that although Stoneleigh is a “wonderful” venue, it would be “difficult for customers to know” the difference between the two events.
His is set to be a smaller, indoor-only vetted event, unlike the IACF fairs.
Organised under the banner of Inloco Events, Classic Antique Fairs now shares a venue with another new venture between LAPADA and Stable Media Group.
Art, Antiques & Interiors Expo, announced in March, was conceived as a spiritual successor to AAfE.
It runs under the direction of Sophie Wood from April 5-7 and is planned to host 200 dealers.
Andrews says he is less concerned about sharing the venue with LAPADA since he predicts that “the same dealers are doing my fair and theirs”.
He plans to have around 120-140 exhibitors for his first event.
He estimates that he is currently in talks with around 60 exhibitors.
Andrews says that he plans to keep exhibitor costs as low as possible, pricing at £155 per square metre including lighting, a power point and advertising costs.
Up to five events
When ATG first reported on Classic Antique Fairs in July, Andrews planned to stage three annual events at the NEAC.
Now he says he hopes to hold as many as five fairs around the UK next year, including in London.
- NEC Birmingham has a long history of art and antiques events and in the past has hosted fairs including Art & Antiques for Everyone.
