Paula Banas pictured with her husband Dave Matthews and their two children, Hayley, left, and Leah at the antiques and vintage fair which she launched in 2021 in the village of Collingham in Nottinghamshire.
Our call-out in ATG No 2577 for young people working in the trade received an enthusiastic response from 30-year-old fairs organiser Paula Banas who is based in Newark.
Under the title Red Fox Fairs she took over a small antiques fair in the village of Collingham in 2021.
It went so well that two more have followed under the same banner: a vintage event in Coddington and an existing antiques and collectables fair in Lowdham, all in the vicinity of Newark.
Love of vintage
How did it all start?
Banas said: “I’ve always loved all things vintage and retro and after we moved from London to Newark my father-in-law, Chris Matthews, who has been in the antiques trade for 30 years, inspired me and a serious adventure with antiques started.
“Pictures and prints are my absolute addiction. I am so in love with fine hand-coloured Victorian natural history and quirky anatomical prints which I frame myself.”
The next Collingham antiques and vintage fair runs on Sunday, March 26, at Collingham Memorial Hall.
It is a busy period in the local art and antiques events calendar.
Lincoln and Newark
The upcoming so-named Newark Antiques Week starts with Arthur Swallow Fairs at the Lincoln Showground on Tuesday, March 28, followed by IACF Newark on Thursday and Friday, March 30-31, at the Newark & Nottinghamshire Showground.
Banas said: “I had exhibited at the Collingham fair and post-Covid I decided to join the ‘big boys’ and stood for the first time at IACF Newark where I now have a regular slot. Our Collingham dates are chosen to start off Newark Antiques Week, with the busiest in regards to trade being in April and October [six are taking place this year] and we have had great feedback from overseas buyers.
“We want to put this fair on the map for Newark Antiques Week.”
The Coddington event is held five times in 2023 with the first on April 30, while the next Lowdham fair (10 this year) is on April 16.
