The 51-year-old, twice-a-year antiques fair in pretty Isle sur la Sorgue was formerly known as the Foire Internationale Arts et Antiquit�s. This year it's under new management and has been renamed Isle sur la Sorgue Antiques Art & You...but I trust everyone will just keep calling it �The Big Antiques Fair� as they always have! And very big it is indeed...one of the biggest in Europe, with 100,000 visitors expected at each fair. It always happens in Spring (usually Easter weekend) and again in late summer. This year�s dates are April 13 to 17 and August 11 to 15, 2017.
You'll find roughly 550 vendors selling in the Parc Gautier and all over town, including the 300 or stall-holders and shops that normally call Isle sur la Sorgue home. Look for antiques and brocante, ancient books, design and decor, art and much more; at the August fair there will also be collectible cars on display and for sale.
This year, a new area will be dedicated to everything vintage (from the 1950s to the '80s) and only professional dealers will be allowed to sell there. One-on-one consultation will be available from Robert Gaillard, a certified antiques authentication expert and columnist for radio France Bleu; email the address below for more info on meeting with him. There will also be conferences, concerts, awards, receptions and more. Fair organizers have two partnerships with transporters for delivering and shipping.
To protect buyers, all exhibitors, merchants and their business partners sign a charter agreeing to work within the profession's best practices. And a certified label from experts allows buyers to differentiate between ancient authentic objects, in their original condition, and newer, decorative or reproduction pieces.
Show hours are 9 am to 7 pm (Thursday April 13 to Sunday April 16) and 9 am to 6 pm (Monday April 17). August hours are to be announced.
The regular weekly Isle sur la Sorgue market will still be held on April 16 (Easter Sunday) and on August 13.
All the info is on the show site here. For the full program in English, including five art exhibits on view during the show, click here. Questions? Email to: commercial@antiquesartandyou.com.
Photos: (1) This year's poster. (2-5) Scenes from fairs past. (6) The pretty Sorgue River runs right through town; guidebooks call it "the Venice of Provence." (7) Everyone loves Cot� Parc, with their over-the-top sidewalk displays. [Credits: Daytime fair overview photo copyright Jeff Marseille. Cot� Parc photo by Doug Crawford courtesy of The Good Life France. River photo courtesy of Avignon-et-Provence. ]
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