Flooded Ground Didn’t Affect Success of Henley Decor Fair

Despite the heavy rainfall which fell on Wednesday evening and flooded Greenlands the Henley Decor Fair went ahead over the weekend with many visitors searching for that unique item for their home or garden.

Organiser, Gary Wallis said, “The HDF team rallied on Thursday. We laid down matting and straw to save the ground. We had to hire pumps to pull water out of a number of stand and we created runways to get exhibitors to their designated stands. It was no mean feat to achieve but great teamwork and resourcefulness prevailed to create a fabulous display, and the rain stopped! The team was on site till midnight to ensure our visitors were able to arrive the next day.  Sales were abundant and the hardcore got the bargains with the trade coming in force.  American and Canadian accents were in abundance with several staying in town to make a weekend of the fair and Henley on Thames.”

Many exhibitors told Gary they almost sold out.  The Restoration Queen said it was her best fair ever and the icing on the cake was her winning the Decor Innovation Award. One dealer sold a life-size bronze horse amongst other very large items and has booked already for the next event (June 2024).

From fairground artefacts to musical instruments, garden sculptures to vintage clothing, there was the unusual, unique to the weird and wonderful – our personal favourite was the Wall’s ice cream sign!

The Henley & Peppard Branch of the British Legion had a stall with artefacts from the Civil War from David Eggleton’s collection and Vice Chair Richard Pinches and his son Benedict were dressed up in French Napoleonic and WW2 military uniforms offering visitors the chance to hold and dry fire deactivated old weapons under supervision for donations to the Henley Poppy Appeal.

Emma Sweet from Henley Playing Cards had a stall selling her cards which includes Henley Decor Fair in the pack as well as a chance for visitors to try the ‘chase the ace’ game to find the ace with the money from this going to The Kenton Theatre; their charity of the year.

Gary added, “The atmosphere and clientele made this a great landmark event despite the difficulties with the land. I would personally like to thank each and every member of staff for their hard work and over and above the call of duty performance, as well as public and trade visitors for their ongoing support for the event.”