2005 Champlain Valley Antiques Festival: Biggest Antiques Show in Vermont History Champlain Valley Antiques Festival, Champlain Valley Exposition, Essex Junction, Vermont - Festival Also Named a Vermont Top Ten Fall Event. October 8-9, 2005
News-Antique.com - Nov 30,-0001 - Essex Junction, VT—This year's Champlain Valley Antiques Festival (CVAF) will be the biggest indoor antiques show in Vermont's history, according to producer Marvin Getman. Thanks to a newly built addition to the Miller Expo Building, 200 dealers will exhibit at the 2005 show, including forty dealers in room-setting booths. "As far as we can determine, that makes the Champlain Valley Antiques Festival the biggest indoor antiques show Vermont has ever had," noted Getman. “And because the show is indoors at the Miller Expo Building, it goes forward rain or shine.” The CVAF takes place October 8-9, 2005 at the Champlain Valley Exposition site in Essex Junction, Vermont. Show hours are Saturday 10:00 until 5:00 and Sunday 10:00 until 4:00. The admission price is $7 for adults and children 12 and under are admitted free. There is an early preview on Saturday at 9am for a $15 admission price.
This year’s show will feature a great many unusual collections. One excellent example is the collection that will be presented by John Kuenzig, a Massachusetts dealer who was recently cited in a Business Week article for his expertise in antique technology. Some of Kuenzig’s CVAF exhibits will include 19th century binocular microscopes with their original lacquer, a Browning Spectroscope, an unsigned 19th century galvanometer, vintage slide rules, medical quackery, early electrical apparatus, and other antique instruments. “We will also have for sale important and interesting books in science and technology including cradle period books in early computing, broadcasting and television, as well as assorted manuscripts and 18th and 19th century books,” noted Kuenzig.
The Vermont Chamber of Commerce has honored the Champlain Valley Antiques Festival (CVAF) by naming it one of the state’s prestigious “Top Ten Fall Events 2005.” A distinguished panel of judges evaluated hundreds of events to select the ten award winners, which must demonstrate a wide appeal to tourists and significant potential for growth. According to Bruce Hyde, Vermont’s Commissioner of Tourism and Marketing, the Champlain Valley Antiques Festival does both and more. “Studies show that antiquing is one of the most popular activities for visitors to Vermont,” Hyde noted. “The Champlain Valley Antiques Festival is a grand rendezvous of many fine northeast antique dealers, all under one roof, in Vermont’s most spectacular season.”
Attendance at the show continues to grow. In 2004, about 60% of festival visitors were Vermonters, but thousands more traveled from 35 states, three Canadian provinces, and four European countries. This year, according to CVAF producer Getman, as many as 5,000 visitors are expected. “The new Miller Expo Building is a perfect facility for our event,” noted Getman. “Its wider aisles will make browsing easier than ever. Given the beauty of the season, plentiful accommodations, and other activities in Burlington and the Lake Champlain Region, people can make this festival the centerpiece of an entire vacation.”
The Champlain Valley Antiques Festival is sponsored by the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce and produced by New England Antique Shows of Lexington, MA. Further information is available
