The three-day November event, traditionally always held over the first weekend of the month, was cancelled, but plans are in hand by some of the dealers who stand at the fair to re-launch it in November next year.
Allen Lewis, who has run the fair for the past six years, said: "As the fairs were out of season and there is a £6 charge to enter Portmeirion village we had to work hard to attract visitors who would support us. It's not an ideal venue. For the March fair this year we spent more money on advertising and then on the weekend the weather was atrocious - it snowed, so this was a hard fair for exhibitors."
Gareth Morgan of Captain Morgan Antiques said: "I am the spokesman for a consortium of North Wales dealers and friends who would like to reinstate the Portmeirion fair, particularly as, traditionally, the November fair was the strongest. There is strong local support for this fair and there has been much disappointment over the possibility it would not go on.
"The Portmeirion fair is a proper antiques fair, with furniture, pictures, jewellery, a little bit of decorative art - classic antiques. There are usually 25 to 30 dealers at Portmeirion and the 2007 November fair date is planned for Friday, November 2 to Sunday, November 4. We're very pleased that Allen Lewis will come and standfit the fair for us."
Built in 1926, Portmeirion started to hold antiques fairs in the early 1960s sometimes with the involvement of the village's architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, who would apparently preside over the ball celebrating the fair wearing, with his evening clothes, a pair of fine but holey carpet slippers. Contact Gareth Morgan on 01248 670629 or 07775 591974.
BY JOAN PORTER
