Farmington Antiques Show

Today, I went to Farmington, CT to visit the Farmington Antiques and Design Weekend, which is held at the Farmington Polo Grounds. When I first started going to Farmington the show was one of the most popular in the area with 600 plus dealers offering fine American and Country antiques under tents, held twice a year. I've been going to this show for at least 20 years and it has changed, now it is but a shadow of what it once was, today there were only about 175 dealers present at the show, which is a disappointment and not really worth the $10 per head general admission, even with that cost covering both Saturday and Sunday. I understand that the promoter has to cover expenses; advertising, field rental, licenses, tent rental deposits, parking assistance, and with dwindling attendance this gets harder each time.

I, personally, have never returned to shop the second day, having made any desired purchases on the first day. This is no reflection on the dealers present, the dealers that have stayed with the show have been doing this show for many years and do strive to maintain the high standards to which they have always aspired and always seem to bring a myriad of quality items from which buyers can choose.

It is hard to say what is causing the decline of this show, several factors have been rumored, the change in management, the year of the "storm", the high early buyer admission of $20 per head when they had an early buyer opening, the higher two-day general admission, the economy of the past few years. Probably all of these have played a part. Steadily over the past few years there has been a noticeable change in the attendance by both dealer and buyer, to the level I witnessed today. I am wondering if this show will survive?