Chief among the changes is its incorporation into the new House & Garden Festival, where it is one of four separate elements under one roof – the other three of which are new this year.
“This collection of events offers a grand-scale shopping emporium and a premier destination for stylish living,” Boyd says. “With a curated mix of antiques and contemporary pieces, the festival aims to attract a brand-new audience to the world of art and antiques.”
Alongside The Art & Antiques Fair the other shows are: House, showing a range of high-end interior products with a focus on quality, craftsmanship and design; GROW London, featuring a myriad of fresh gardening ideas, modern accessories, outdoor furniture and plants; and Spirit of Summer, an eclectic mix of hand-selected independent boutiques and designermakers selling products not found on the high street.
An extra day has been added to the antiques fair following last year when it had seven days. All events open on June 20 but the antiques fair runs for eight days, closing on June 27, while the other attractions will close after five.
These events have run at similar times for a few years and “are natural bedfellows, creating an interiors emporium unlike anything else in London,” Boyd says.
“From a marketing viewpoint, it allows us to combine our resources and target some of the same buyer groups such as interior designers. Similarly, new audiences will come from the separate events to experience the festival as a whole.”
Q&A with Olympia organiser
What are the new developments for the 2018 version of The Art & Antiques Fair Olympia?
The Art & Antiques Fair Olympia 2018 returns to Olympia London in June with its unrivalled range of vetted art and antiques. This year, the Fair forms a major part of the new House & Garden Festival, sitting alongside three new events – creating the first of its type in London. This collection of events offers a grand scale shopping emporium and a premier destination for stylish living. With a curated mix of antiques and contemporary pieces, the festival aims to attract a brand new audience to the world of art and antiques, providing a fantastic opportunity to educate, engage and sell.
How many different elements will there be?
The Festival will feature four distinct, yet complementary events. So alongside The Art & Antiques Fair the other shows are:
House showing a range of high end interior products with a focus on quality, craftsmanship and design. There will be kitchens and bathrooms alongside home-wares, floor and wall coverings, lighting, and more.
GROW London featuring a myriad of fresh gardening ideas, modern accessories, outdoor furniture, and plants and planters for all types of gardens.
Spirit of Summer - an eclectic mix of hand selected independent boutiques and designer-makers selling products not found on the high street
How will access to the different elements work?
One ticket will access the whole festival.
There will be an impressive and completely different entrance experience drawing upon the elements of all four events. The entrance will be accessed from Olympia way, (in between the two Olympia halls) which has never been used before for any of these fairs. The visitor arrival experience will open out onto the whole festival with art and antiques to the left and House, Grow and Spirit to the right. In addition there will be the normal entrance on Hammersmith Road to access The Art & Antiques Fair.
What made you decide to group these (Clarion) fairs together?
They have run at similar times for a few years and are natural bedfellows, creating as they do an Interiors emporium unlike anything else in London. Visitors will be able to shop for everything from Picasso to plants and designer paint.
From a marketing view point it allows us to combine our resources and target some of the same buyer groups such as Interior Designers. Similarly, new audiences will come from the separate events to experience the festival as a whole. It will offer a new and exciting experience for all our visitors. Our increased marketing reach is supported by Conde Nast.
How many visitors do you expect to visit the fair?
We expect around 30,000 visitors in total.
How will the festival ‘feel’ different in terms of the visitor experience
In addition to the antiques fair talk series, this year visitors will be able to learn from experts in all the different fairs whether it is collecting, interior design or gardens. There will be highlight tours and interactive workshops as well as free advice clinics. Professionally decorated spaces will also be built to inspire. Interior designer Rabih Hage and a dedicated BIID panel session are confirmed. More names will follow soon.
Custom built for the festival will be two Louis Roederer champagne bars (one in antiques) and a Mosimann’s restaurant open for the eight days.
Have the dates and the length of the fair changed?
Yes they have moved a few days to allow us to incorporate all the events so we now run from Wednesday (20th June) to Wednesday (27th June). We understand that the international collectors come to London at this time so the timing still ties in with other important art events. There is an extra day in the antiques fair, which now bridges two weeks to increase the opportunities for people visit in what is a busy time of year. We will open at 10.30 on Wednesday 20th (last year we opened in the afternoon on the first day).
Will all the events run for the same length of time?
The Art & Antiques Fair Olympia runs for eight days and the other three shows run for five from Wednesday 20th to Sunday 24th June. All open on the same day and at the same times. This formula has worked successful at other Clarion events.
House & Garden Festival will be open from 20-24 June.
