Stan Green, right, organiser of Dualco Promotions pictured with Bargain Hunt expert Danny Sebastian at one of the organiser’s fairs held at the Bolton Wanderers stadium.
A fairs organiser who has been in the business in the north west of England for 40 years is launching a biannual antiques and collectors’ event at York Racecourse.
With the first taking place on Sunday, February 26, this will surely gladden the hearts of exhibitors and buyers alike after the demise of the York Antiques and Vintage Fair held at the same venue. The course is the location of PBFA’s prestigious biannual book fair with the next in September.
Stan Green of Manchester-based Dualco Promotions said: “We decided to launch a fair at York Racecourse to complement the other fairs we hold in Yorkshire.
“We originally had 200 booked in at York but as it stands now it’s nearly up to 250.”
The 80-year-old, who runs the business with his son Philip, started his first fair in 1982 at the Swan Pub in Bolton with 12 dealers.
In the 1980s-90s antiques were on the crest of a wave following the Antiques Roadshow hitting television screens in 1979 and the publication in 1980 of the Miller’s Guide to Antiques, a price guide that was never out of dealers’ pockets. The International Antiques and Collectors’ Fair was launched at the Newark Showground in 1985 and has never looked back.
Green Sr’s first big fair took place in 1984 at the Stretford Sports Centre in Manchester with 100 dealers. The organiser’s two flagship fairs are at the Bolton Wanderers stadium, which was launched 20 years ago, and at Doncaster Racecourse in around 2006. Both venues see a take-up of exhibitors at the 200-300 mark.
“It’s taken years to build up my fairs but it’s all been very enjoyable and worthwhile,” he added.
With long-running fairs also held at Pudsey Civic Hall, near Leeds, the George Carnall Leisure Centre, Manchester, and the Leigh Sports Village near Wigan, it certainly is worthwhile.
