West Palm Beach Antiques Festival Wraps Up Regular Season With June Event

Online, May 17, 2011 (Newswire.com) - West Palm Beach Antiques Festival owners Kay and Bill Puchstein reported another sold out house for the May 6,7,8 Festival with Florida dealers having an especially good weekend. It is no longer necessary to leave the State to find rare and outstanding antiques. The Friday event had some rain but by Saturday and Sunday it was long gone and Sunny Florida put on its best display for the record crowds on hand to enjoy it.

Len Bartkowiak of Ft. Meyers, FL, a dealer in specialty smalls, reported selling over $100,000 worth of ivory on Friday to get the weekend off to good start with other dealers following the lead. Greg Biaggi takes a minimalist approach to the Festival bringing only a very small number of artfully restored pieces to each event. This time he sold a 1948 5¢ Coke machine for $6,800 and two slot machines leaving him with only a 1953 10¢ Coke vending machine left in his inventory. Larry Roberts, a Micanopy, FL dealer, offered a hanging wall box with drawers acquired over thirty years ago at Brimfield for $875. James Holmes of Wellington, FL had a for child's size period Hepplewhite chest with an old refinish and and a good price of $795 and he had good movement on many of his Modernism pieces.

Other Florida dealers reporting a very good outing included Elizabeth Bartholomew of Juno beach, FL, set up in the lobby of the Expo Building, who was selected Dealer of the Month for her inventory of hand woven Oriental clothing and accessories, Pete Hahn, Wilton Manors, FL who always has a great selection of books and decorator items at every show and Deborah Gentile of Boca Raton, FL with her stacks of vintage suitcases along with her wonderful display of linens and fabrics.

The Summer Season kicks off the two day Summer Shows with the July 2,3 event. The format for the entire Summer Season will be the two day affair, Saturday and Sunday instead of the normal three day event during the regular season. Summer show dates will be July 2-3, August 6-7, September 3-4 and October 1-2 with a full day of setup for dealers on Friday 8:00AM to 7:00PM. The Puchsteins have lowered dealers' booth rent for the Summer Season over the normal show fee. The popular "Early Buyers Admission" feature will be continued in the summer starting at 9:00AM on Saturday before the regular Show opening time of 10:00AM.

West Palm Beach Antiques Festival is held the 1st full weekend of every month at the South Florida Fairgrounds located off Southern Boulevard in West Palm Beach, FL, 1.5 miles west of the Florida Turnpike and 1 mile east of 441/SR7.

The next show is June 3,4,5 with over 300 dealers in attendance. Festival hours are Friday 12:00PM - 5:00PM, Saturday 9:00AM - 5:00PM and Sunday 10:00AM - 4:30PM. Early Buyer's admission is Friday 9:00AM - 12:00PM and the $25 admission is good for all three days. Adult daily admission $7.00, seniors $6.00. Anyone 12 and under is admitted free. There is no charge for parking at the Fairgrounds.