Festival Feel at Henley Decor Fair

There was a real festival atmosphere at the Henley Decor Fair at Greenlands over the weekend, with people enjoying the sunshine, food, drink and musical entertainment plus an amazing array of stalls selling items for your house and garden.

From big to small including fairground ride parts, huge sculptures, boats, to bowler hats, vintage signs to stuffed animals there was an eclectic mix of items to suit everyone’s taste.  There were plenty of things too for those who love to upcycle things for their homes.

Live music entertainment was provided all day and into the evening at the riverside location in the big Crooked Billet marquee who were serving their great selection of delicious hot food from the grill.  Time for Tea also had their vintage tea room marquee open for everyone to enjoy tea, cake and scones.

We loved the large firefighter being sold (pictured below) by stallholder, Martin Diugman who said, “I bought it from Ireland, probably originally he was from a circus or a fire station.  I’ve been doing this, ever since it started in Fawley a few years ago.”

Organiser, TV celebrity antiques dealer Gary Wallis said, “Considering it was cancelled in May/June and all the things we’ve had to over come this year, I think we’ve put on a fantastic event. I knew the venue was fantastic.  Since I was given the go ahead, I was coming down here every day to see what the ground was like as it is prone to be damp ground as well as keeping an eye on the news about the Covid-19 restrictions and the weather.   All those things said and done.  I had a chat with him upstairs and gave Boris a call and asked him whether he could put things off until Monday and here we are.  We had a really good trade day with lots of brisk business on Friday with lots of interior decorators and top-end buyers from London were here.  There was a really good buzz in the air.  Today it’s been very well received by the public.  We couldn’t ask for anything more.  We’ve followed all the guidelines to make it the safest socially distance event we possibly could.  Fortunately this ground allows us to spread out.  We’ve been blessed with the weather and everyone has got a smile on their face.  It’s a really nice chilled atmosphere.  People don’t realise how difficult the antiques trade is.  The people who booked their space in May were just waiting to see what would happen and I have had nothing but amazing feedback.”

Visitor Jo Harris said, “I bought an amazing colourful coat and a glorious painting which I’m completely in love with. It was a real treat, almost like a mini festival. I loved it being so close to the river – it felt like a complete day out. Great food, live music and amazing things to look at and buy. I hope they hold it there again next year.”