LOCALBUSINESS
insideKENT INTERVIEWS
Hallmark Fairs
Trevor Cornforth
OF
I gather you have an unusual show coming up at Bluewater soon? Yes, that’s right, we have a huge Vintage, Antiques and Interiors Show which is probably the largest indoor event of its kind in the South East. Is Bluewater a good location for an event like that? Absolutely. The Glow Events Centre is a massive arena right in the heart of the shopping centre and has lots of parking, so from en exhibition point of view it’s great. Bluewater itself though is famous for the fashion and home wares that it offers, so our show adds to the diversity available for visitors that weekend. Do you think the regular visitors will like it? Well they certainly did at the ?rst one we held there in March. Obviously it’s not going to be to everyone’s taste, but a lot of younger people are getting into the vintage fashion scene, so for them it was a great bonus; and with the fusion of vintage fashion, interiors and antiques it gave everyone a chance to see something different. Antiques tend to be seen as something remote from vintage, but the two are the same thing basically and it’s hard to draw a line where one ends and the other starts. Lots of people got to see a bigger range of items on sale than
they would usually ?nd in one place, and as a result broadened their tastes and bought accordingly. What sort of things will be on sale? Well, for the fashion scene there are a number of well-known sellers with vintage clothing and accessories as well as vintage and retro furniture and home wares. For jewellery fans there are a number of great sellers with everything from silver chains to ?ne diamonds. Art Nouveau and Art Deco fans will have plenty to choose from as well as the growing number of collectors of Oriental items. General collectors will not be disappointed either as there are lots of dealers selling silver wares, bronzes, ceramics, glass, ephemera and a whole lot more too diverse to list. The range of dealers is one of the broadest on offer anywhere with many travelling hundreds of miles to exhibit with us, and there will be hundreds of them to look around and choose from. Where do people get tickets? Ticketing is simple. Visitors can buy on the door from 10 to 5 both days, Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th September, and unlike most big shows the admission price is very modest. Many
events this big are £10 or even £20 to get in, but we have kept the price affordable to encourage a diverse group of visitors and to encourage younger buyers, perhaps just venturing into the world of collecting and vintage. The admission price is just £5.00 for adults and £3.00 for concessions with accompanied under 14s free. It sounds like an event not to be missed? It certainly is! The reaction from visitors last time, many of whom had never been to this kind of event, was hugely enthusiastic with lots coming both days just to make sure they had seen everything. Some even had to come back for a second car load and many had larger items delivered to them by the exhibitors after the show.
20
www.insidekentmagazine.co.uk