Greetings dear readers and friends! Well, if there wasn’t reason enough to visit picture-perfect Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (where the Sorgue river just happens to run through the café & boutique-lined center of town) now you have two incredible dates in 2017 that are sure to get you packing.
Now in its 51st year, Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is home to the biggest European Antiques and Brocante event – Antiques Art & You.
There are two dates for the event: Easter Weekend, 13-17 of April, 2017 and the Weekend of the 15th of August, 2017.
I had the pleasure of interviewing one of the event’s representatives and she had so much great information to share about the history and daily offerings during both dates.
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1. What do you consider to be the spirit of the event?
L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is commonly known as the Venice of Provence by visitors and residents alike. The Provençal town in the South of France is dotted with Venetian-like canals, which used to be home to gondolas boasting floating markets. The merchants arrived 51 years ago to set up shop, and now call the town home, coining the town as the European capital for antiques and flea markets. The festival is a celebration of the merchants’ goods and antiques.
2. How many merchants do you expect to attend this year’s event?
There are 300 resident sellers and 250 visiting sellers who come from all over the world, making up a total of 550 sellers.
3. What are the principal objects that will be on display / for sale?
There are five sectors of objects on sale: antiques and brocante (second-hand), ancient books, design decoration, vintages pieces and artistic work.
4. How many people usually attend the festival and where do they come from (French or foreigners)?
We have a little more than 100,000 visitors at each fair, so the two fairs attract a total of about 200,000 visitors a year. More than half are international visitors, coming mostly from Italy, England, Belgium, and even as far as the United States and China, really giving the fair its rank as the international capital of coveted and unique pieces.
5. Are there different events that visitors can attend?
Provence is filled with lots of cultural events, things to do and see, and, better yet, each town is never too far from the next. L’Isle sur la Sorgue is right next door to Avignon, a town known for its theatre and its history, being home to one of the largest and most important medieval castles in Europe, the Palais des Papes (the Papal Palace).
In Isle sur la Sorgue, there’s the Campredon Art Centre, which is hosting an exhibition dedicated to French artist, Françoise Pétrovich, which is running from 11 March until 18 June. There’s also the charming Maison sur la Sorgue, which is exhibiting a show dedicated to art in Myanmar, while the Hôtel Dongier Antiquités will be selling work from the artist Véronique Wirth, whose works will be on sale at the same time as the Easter fair, 13 to 17 April.
Antiques Art & You will be hosting several events itself, such as conferences led by restoration and antiques specialists, with the likes of Brigitte Durieux, author of Inoxydable Tolix (Industrial Chic), and Emmanuel Sureaux, who will be heading a conference entitled, “Ubérisation de l’antiquité brocante.”
6. Any other information that would be helpful to attendees?
Antiques Art & You will be hosting a complimentary event, “Metamorphose,” dedicated to reused objects in art and design, and upcycled art (dates and times TBC).
Otherwise, the hours of the fair are as follows (our hours in August are TBC):
-Thursday, April 13 to Sunday, April 16: open from 9am to 7pm
-Monday, April 17: open from 9am to 6pm
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To keep up with all of the latest from this year’s event, you can subscribe to the Antiques Art & You newsletter here.
Also, don’t forget to follow all the goings-on via the Antiques Art & You Facebook and Twitter pages. And of course they have a beautiful Instagram feed. (All photos from this post were furnished by Antiques Art & You)
Antiques Art & You, Isle-sur-la-Sorgue 2017 – Easter Weekend, 13-17 of April / Weekend of the 15th of August
Belle Provence Travels 