Brimfield's Antique Market: A shopper's guide

Asked about the Brimfield Antique Flea Markets, Sonia Fernandez describes the multiday Massachusetts bazaar as "kind of like the World Cup of antique and vintage."

That’s a big endorsement coming from Fernandez, 45, a dealer at Huntington's neighboring businesses Rosie’s Vintage and Wit and Whim. The former marketing professional, who has been vending now for four years, sources at the triennial event to stock her selling spaces on Long Island and upstate New York.

"You find people and things from everywhere," says Fernandez, a Whitestone, Queens, resident who owns Blank Slate Greetings and specializes in selling goods that are "a mix between Victorian or modern goth."

Brimfield claims on its website to be "America's Oldest Outdoor Antiques Flea Market," which, according to state tourism officials, draws an estimated 50,000 attendees to the rural community throughout its May, July and September dates. "As the largest and most iconic outdoor antique show in the country, Brimfield transforms a small New England town into a six-day shopping spectacle three times a year," says the event’s website. Approximately 3,700 people reside in Brimfield, about 65 miles southwest of Boston, according to the 2020 Census and Google Maps.

Fernandez and others on a mission to sell beautiful, old, well-made wares offer the following advice to collectors who want to spend a day or more picking through the show’s 16 fields of stuff.

Pace yourself

The next Brimfield takes place in July. "Even if you stay there all week, you can't see everything," says George Dixon, 48, who owns Vintage George and is a dealer at Rosie’s Vintage.

Give yourself grace, says Cassie Justice, 37, who with her husband, Tom, 36, owns Sea City Vintage, an Atlantic Beach shop specializing in midcentury modern curiosities. "It's so much bigger than you're going to expect, and it's going to be overwhelming the first time. ... There's no way you're going to cover the whole thing in one day," says Cassie, who lives with Tom in East Atlantic Beach.

Deal or no deal?

Finding the best deals depends on when you get there, says Dixon, a Head of the Harbor resident who also works as a town parks employee in Brookhaven. "If you're there on Tuesday, you're  [going to] see the best stuff," he says. "But if you come at the end of the week on Saturday and Sunday, you're going to find crazy deals because people don't want to bring everything back home."

Although some booths are set up like shops with retail prices, others try to offer prices that will move merchandise, says Fernandez. Vendors are "always willing to work with you on pricing," especially if you’re willing to purchase in bulk, she says.

Dixon says he once bought 25 Lions Club flags for $5 apiece. "Some were worth $40, and some worth $1,000," he says.

Get organized

"I think having a list is important ... and then that stuff just kind of starts to appear in front of you," says Tom Justice, who opened Sea City Vintage with Cassie in 2022. "If it's all you're looking for, you can kind of cut everything else out."

"Because there's just so much stuff," adds Cassie. "Like, if you collect dice, you could probably find, like, 2,000 pairs of dice at Brimfield if you were just focused on doing that."

Know the schedule

"Each one of these fields is privately owned," says Fernandez. "So even though the market is a whole week, every field owner decides what days they open." When she attended the market for the first time in May, there were fields that didn't open until Thursday and then there were fields that were open the whole week, she explains. "They all have their own start times, too," she says.

On opening days there’s often a stampede of dealers, says Cassie Justice. "You're racing to the booths," she says. "Everybody's in and out of booths looking for what they're looking for really quickly. People are grabbing at the racks really quickly trying to take the items that they want."

"If you love an adventure, go for it," she adds. "If you're doing this, like, low key, honestly, I don't know if it's the best place for a newbie collector."

About the car

"Each field has parking as well, and every field decides what they charge for parking," says Fernandez, who, like other dealers, aims for a pricier location, at $20 a day, in the middle of all the fields. Other car parks, she says, might charge only $5 a day.

Be prepared

Comfortable shoes, for instance, are key not only for the number of steps you’ll get in or for standing in long lines on opening days, but for navigating the all-terrain fields, which may be paved but often are not, says Fernandez.

She suggests wearing layers and bringing clothes to change into for fickle weather conditions, from cold snaps to heavy rainstorms, she says. Rain boots will be a sensible footwear choice for the latter, she adds.

In July, bring sunscreen and a hat, says Cassie Justice, and stay hydrated, she adds.

Plan ahead

If you’re planning to stay overnight within 15 to 20 minutes of Brimfield, reserve a room as early as you can, even a year in advance, says Cassie Justice. Hotels and motels located closest to the show often charge more, sometimes as much as $300 a night, says Dixon. "If you go a couple towns out, you can get something more reasonable," he says.

Cash is king

Some vendors will offer discounts if you pay in cash, says Fernandez. If you forget to bring some or find you didn’t bring enough, there are ATMs throughout the grounds, she adds. Many dealers accept credit cards or cash apps such as Venmo, she adds.

If you forget snacks

There are food courts and food trucks, says Fernandez, adding that portable toilets are also on site that are cleaned often.

For collectible clothing

Many dealers plan to arrive early to take in Threadbare Show Brimfield Week, which is being held in August at the nearby Wellsworth Hotel in Southbridge, to shop for vintage clothing and antique textiles. The event takes place two days before the September and May Brimfield antique flea markets, although not in July, and is followed by The Sturbridge Show, which happens the Monday before all three events each year, according to an email from a Threadbare Show organizer.

Making new friends

The market is a great opportunity for real-life facetime with vendors and vintage lovers you might follow on social media, says Fernandez. "You're with people who enjoy the same stuff you do," says Fernandez. "It really is a gathering of like-minded people."