Topsfield Show For June 24-25 Cancelled

TOPSFIELD, MASS. - The Great Indoor/Outdoor Antiques Show at the Topsfield Fairgrounds, scheduled for June 24 and 25, has been cancelled.

In its 22nd year, the show was previously conducted twice each summer - Part 1 in June and Part 2 in late August. Last year, Drummer Boys Antique Shows promoter David Bornstein scaled it back to a single two-day show, which was hammered by a hot spell of weather in late June.

Still, the problem, said Bornstein in a telephone interview was not in attracting crowds to the show, rather the show's cancellation stems from a progressively thinning cadre of antiques dealers and an economy that is sucking once-discretionary money into people's motor vehicle gas tanks.

"I was having a hard time getting dealers," said Bornstein. "A lot of them who got involved in antiques in 1960s and 1970s are dying off, and there are not enough young people coming into the trade. I understand this, because I was a dealer with my father, who started the business in 1975."

The Internet is not helping either, said Bornstein, as collectors increasingly succumb to the allure of being able to shop for rarities online and in the comfort of their own homes. "I've been struggling - not to get the crowds in - but getting the crowds that spend a lot of money," said the promoter.

Bornstein said he is not sure if the show will be brought back in the future, and, if so, where the venue will be. With a three-year-old child and another baby due this month, he said he is currently assessing his personal options. "I want to thank all of my dealers - who have been like a family to me - and I hope to be able to bring back the show at some point."

Call 978-535-4811 or visit www.bornsteinshows.com for information.