A collage of images from ACVR Events’ antiques and vintage street markets.
Ask anyone for the name of the best-known street antiques market in the UK and you will probably get in answer Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill, west London.
Fair enough, considering it attracts thousands of visitors from all over the world.
But the popularity of such street markets further afield is on the rise and here we take a look at four of them - including one about to be launched.
Got it covered
There will be no worries about the availability of gazebos for dealers at the latest antiques street market to be announced.
Coden Events, based in Worthing, West Sussex, which specialises in their hire, is launching a weekly Thursday antiques and collectables market starting on May 2 in the market town of Horsham, also West Sussex.
Zac Coden also runs a monthly entrepreneurs’ market in the town which includes antiques and collectables.
Cllr Joanne Knowles of Horsham District Council says: “We anticipate that the market will appeal to new and existing shop-based and online businesses looking for a new cost-effective channel to build their customer base.”
‘Ultimate in recycling’
Jackie Edwards is the undoubted queen of street antiques and vintage markets. As ACVR Events she launched her first event in the Hampshire town of Romsey in 2015 at locations around the town centre and by recommendation and reputation has now spread into 10 other historic market towns and cities across southern England.
These include Chichester in West Sussex where Edwards organises a triannual antiques and decorative arts market in two of the city’s prime retail streets, with the next on Sunday, April 21.
Edwards says: “I started in Romsey with an amazing town manager and also worked with Ringwood’s events manager, with both markets now in their ninth year.
“Then it was in Bishop’s Waltham through the Chamber of Trade, then Alresford via the town trust, all in Hampshire, before being recommended for Guildford and Epsom. And so it has gone on.”
Edwards added: “Initially councils thought it was just another income stream but when they saw the increase in footfall and the diversity it was bringing to high streets when shops were closing it was seen as a positive all-round.
“The trend now is the ethical remit. What is sold in my markets is the ultimate in recycling ensuring these items don’t end up in landfill, so we can offer councils another reason for these markets to co-exist in the high street bringing people back into the centre of towns to shop and for the right reasons.”
Market force
Leader of West Lindsey District Council Cllr Trevor Young, left, and the council’s deputy leader, Cllr Lesley Rollings, third right with dealers Harry Scott, in cap and Marks Tinsley, pictured at the launch of the first antiques fair in the market square in Gainsborough in late March.
Noticing that the market square in the Lincolnshire town of Gainsborough was under-used, two dealers at the nearby Astra Antiques Centre at Hemswell Cliff decided to change that.
Marks Tinsley and Harry Scott enlisted the support of West Lindsey District Council and, as MH Antiques & Fairs, last month launched the first of their weekly antiques and vintage fairs in the square running alongside the town’s weekly Saturday market.
Scott says: “West Lindsey District Council has been very supportive of our plans, offering continuing advice and technical support. They are interested in building up the use of the market square because a local market works like the heartbeat of any town bringing trade and customers to all the amenities in the town centre.
“Some of the historic market places have charters going back to the Norman era - the charter for Gainsborough market dates from the 13th century - and it would be a true shame for market squares to become open-air car parking.”
In and out
A stall at Berkhamsted Antiques Market.
Adam Game launched his monthly Sunday antiques and street market in Berkhamsted High Street in 2022. It did so well he now runs a parallel indoor event at the nearby civic centre, with 50 dealers across the two venues in the Hertfordshire town.
His take on the outdoor market? “Each month we create a laid-back and casual shopping experience away from the confines of the traditional antiques centre. Here, visitors can leisurely peruse stalls with a coffee in hand enjoying the unhurried atmosphere as they search for hidden treasures and one-off finds.”
Change of date
The Enys House Antiques and Decorative Fair, originally scheduled for April 13-14, will now be held on Saturday and Sunday, April 20-21. The event takes place at Enys Gardens, St Gluvias, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9LB.
