The venue has been secured subject to local council planning permission at the home of the Chelsea Flower Show, and the inaugural fair is set for August 16-21, 2002, with around 100 stands. However, in 2003, Mrs Penman hopes to move to her preferred date of the second week of July and, depending on the market, with a considerably larger capacity.
Mrs Penman is a seasoned organiser of quality fairs and is best known for her Chelsea Antiques Fair, one of the country’s top quality events which has been enjoying a new lease of life recently at Chelsea Town Hall. Known for small, intimate fairs, she hopes to retain her characteristic hands-on approach while establishing a show of possibly 200 exhibitors.
The fair will be held in a marquee, on the lines of the recent Decorex event at the same site, but although plans are at a very early stage, Mrs Penman realises she will not be talking to just dealers and standfitters, the area she knows well, but very probably also with sponsors and backers.
A major, ambitious project, the fair will be of a high standard with the expected Penman level of strict vetting.
Penman to launch big new event in Chelsea
LONDON: Long-established organiser Caroline Penman launches a new summer fair in London next year when The New Chelsea Antiques Show is held at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea.
