Across the country, antiques fairs continue to captivate with their rare blend of commerce, culture, and community. Each gathering unfolds as part marketplace, part exhibition, and part social ritual where history meets design, and discovery becomes both personal and shared.
And yet, these fairs are about so much more than the exchange of objects. They are about the pursuit of beauty, the thrill of provenance, and the conversations that ripple long after the tents are folded. From the grandeur of New York’s Park Avenue Armory to the sprawling fields of Round Top, the calendar is punctuated by events that define the rhythm of sourcing in America.
Round Top Antiques Fair — Texas
When: Spring and Fall | Location: Between Austin and Houston
The Texas countryside transforms twice yearly into America’s most sprawling antiques destination. Across 17 miles of converted barns and showrooms, more than 100,000 visitors converge for what has become a cultural phenomenon as much as a buying event.
“This place is a design lover’s dream,” notes interior designer Ross Cassidy, speaking about the Round Top Antiques Fair to Architectural Digest. His sentiment captures why Round Top has become a pilgrimage not only for antiques dealers and collectors, but also for interior designers seeking rare finds and creative sparks to bring back to their projects.
A highlight is The Compound at Round Top, with its thoughtfully curated mix across six barns, a historic farmhouse, and garden gazebo, creating an estate-like setting for European and American antiques, architectural salvage, and mid-century design.
Why it matters: Round Top has democratized high-level antiquing, presenting museum-quality pieces in a relaxed setting where seasoned collectors and newcomers browse side by side.
Antique & Design Center of High Point — North Carolina
When: April and October | Location: High Point, NC
The Antique & Design Center has offered a refined sanctuary within High Point Market since its founding in 2010. It’s a must-visit stop for anyone sourcing unique items, and interior designers often make it their first stop. Interior designer Gary Inman puts it simply: “I always walk the ADC early and first.”
Founded on the principle of collaboration over competition, the Center quickly became a destination in itself. Each season, its carefully curated mix of antiques and art offers a platform where discovery feels both elevated and deeply personal.
Pro tip: Schedule appointments in advance during market weeks; the best pieces move quickly when the design world descends on High Point.
The San Francisco Fall Show — California
When: September | Location: Fort Mason’s Festival Pavilion
Established in 1982, the San Francisco Fall Show is the West Coast’s oldest international antiques fair. Show Chair Suzanne Tucker notes, “The show has grown into THE leading international art, antiques, and design fair on the West Coast. It’s always an exciting annual event.”
Set against the glittering backdrop of San Francisco Bay, the Fall Show is more than a marketplace. It’s a stage where history, beauty, and discovery converge. Around 70 esteemed international dealers present treasures that span centuries, while designer-curated vignettes and thought-provoking lectures infuse the fair with artistry and intellect. Its Pacific setting draws a notable presence of Asian dealers and collectors, bringing with them objects seldom encountered on the East Coast — pieces that lend the show its aura of rarity and allure.
Insider insight: Don’t skip the designer vignettes! Many of the Bay Area’s top talents debut ideas here before they ripple through the wider design world.
The Winter Show — New York City
When: January | Location: Park Avenue Armory
Now in its 71st year, The Winter Show reigns as America’s longest-running art and antiques fair, a tradition as enduring as the treasures it presents. Within the storied walls of the Park Avenue Armory, its soaring architecture lends the atmosphere of a grand gallery. The fair becomes, in the words of Antiques and The Arts Weekly, “a nexus of historical influences joining continent to continent and epoch to epoch … an informal classroom in design history.” This rarefied atmosphere draws collectors, designers, and connoisseurs who come not only to acquire, but to be transported — each piece a portal to another place and time.
Insider tip: Previews and opening night parties are networking goldmines where relationships often matter more than immediate sales.
Brimfield Antique Flea Market — Massachusetts
When: Three times yearly (May, July, September) | Location: Brimfield, MA
Brimfield is less a market than a world unto itself. Since the 1950s, this legendary outdoor fair has spilled across rolling New England fields, where tents, barns, and makeshift stalls stretch as far as the eye can see.
Its anything-goes spirit is part of the magic — antique maps brush shoulders with mid-century chairs, while vintage couture shares space with garden statuary. The air buzzes with conversation and the aroma of food stands, creating an atmosphere equal parts festival and thrill-of-the-hunt. Here, seasoned dealers and first-time explorers mingle in the journey of discovery, never sure whether the next find will be a quirky $5 trinket or a piece worthy of a museum.
Strategy: Arrive early, dress for weather, bring cash. The best pieces disappear within hours of setup.
Palm Springs Modernism Show — California
When: February and October | Location: Palm Springs, CA
Each October, the desert becomes the epicenter of mid-century style when the Palm Springs Modernism Show opens its doors. Produced by Dolphin Promotions, this highly anticipated fair gathers more than 120 premier dealers from across the US and beyond, offering an curated mix of mid-century and modern furniture, decorative arts, and contemporary design. The atmosphere is chic but inviting — part high-style exhibition, part weekend escape — and general admission grants visitors the luxury of returning all weekend to discover what they may have missed the first time through.
Of note: The Show is a crown jewel of Modernism Week, Palm Springs’ eleven-day celebration of architecture and design. While Modernism Week spills out into home tours, lectures, and parties across the city, the Modernism Show is its sophisticated centerpiece. A place where collectors and designers can not only shop, but also connect with the ideas shaping mid-century design culture today.
Insider tip: Don’t miss the early-buying preview party. It’s where serious collectors and design insiders snap up the best pieces before the public arrives — all while enjoying cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and the electric sense that Palm Springs has once again become the world’s capital of cool.
TEFAF New York — Park Avenue Armory
When: Spring and Fall | Location: Park Avenue Armory
The American iteration of Europe’s most prestigious fair brings Continental standards to New York. TEFAF President Hidde van Seggelen explains: “All exhibited pieces undergo thorough vetting to ensure the dealers only bring ‘the best of the best.’” That rigorous process, unmatched in the art and antiques world, is part of what gives TEFAF its aura of authority.
New York designer and TEFAF global advisory board member Aerin Lauder captures the fair’s essence: “It’s truly the best — the heritage of it, what it represents, and the people who come.” Each booth is staged like a jewel box, where Old Masters hang alongside contemporary works, antiquities sit in dialogue with cutting-edge design, and scholarship and commerce merge in dazzling harmony. TEFAF is not just a marketplace — it is a cultural institution in its own right, shaping taste and setting standards for collectors, curators, and designers worldwide.
Collector’s note: Treat each booth like a private museum tour. Dealers often share scholarship and stories you won’t find on the wall labels.
Nashville Antique & Garden Show — Tennessee
When: February | Location: Cheekwood Estate & Gardens
Founded by legendary designer Albert Hadley, the Nashville Antiques & Garden Show has blossomed into one of the most beloved fixtures on the antiques calendar. More than 150 dealers and roughly 17,000 attendees gather each year, yet the show manages to preserve an intimate, Southern charm that feels more like a gathering of friends than a sprawling fair.
Leading the charge for 2026 are Co-Chairs Paula Kinard and Phyllis Vandewater, whose stewardship will guide the Show’s continued legacy of elegance and discovery. A preview of the 2026 lecture series includes planned talks and book signings by design luminaries such as Brooke Shields, Sheryl Crow, Shane Connolly, Willow Crossley, Veere Grenney, and Rita Konig — suggesting once again that this event will weave high design with cultural conversation.
Insider tip: Want to hear the latest from renowned designers and creatives? Watch the Show’s lecture schedule. Speaker sessions often sell out before public tickets are available.
The Enduring Appeal
In our increasingly digital world, these fairs offer what no online marketplace can replicate: the chance to see pieces in person, to grasp their scale and condition, and to build the relationships that sustain the trade. Each fair has its own personality and community; success lies in knowing not just what you’re seeking, but where — and among whom — you’re most likely to find it.
For dealers, designers, and collectors serious about the antiques world, these events represent essential waypoints on the American calendar. They’re the place (both physical and philosophical) where history meets commerce, relationships are built, and the next great discovery always feels just one booth away.
Want to explore other fairs in the US, UK, and EU? Download the Autumn | Winter 2025 Guide to Trade Fairs + Shows for Sellers of Art, Vintage and Antiques free of charge.
