The first thing you’re going to worry about when you get to Brimfield is parking. Luckily, there are tons of fields reserved for that exact purpose. Don’t just take the first available one, because that walk back to your car will get tiring by the third trip. Next, you’re going to worry about timing. When does this market open? When does that one close? Are there any vendors sticking around until 5 p.m.? How could you possibly see it all?
You can’t. At least not in one day.
If you mention Brimfield to anybody who’s been there, they’ll be quick to tell you that it is not actually one unfathomably large antiques flea market. It’s many big markets, all coordinated to open the same three weeks every year: once in May, once in July and once in September.
The whole thing started in 1959, when auctioneer Gordon Ried decided to emulate the outdoor antiques flea markets he’d seen in Connecticut up on his farmland in Brimfield, Massachusetts. It began with 67 vendors but would never be that small again. Within a few years, his Auction Acres was packed to the brim, and nearby farmers started opening their fields to more vendors.
Today, there are more than 20 individual markets, all with different schedules and specialties. Despite the varying lineups, one thing remains consistent throughout the event: quality. No matter what field you wander onto and whether or not they have an entry fee, you’ll find treasures everywhere you look.
A wicker viewing coffin from a closed funeral home for sale at Brimfield.D.H. Callahan
Sure, there are some tents that have more of the contemporary collectibles, like boxes of Funko Pop! dolls and Marvel movie posters — the same stuff you see at every event of this kind. They’re always easy to identify and usually just steps away from some serious treasures, like a whole tent of midcentury furniture or one full of old, obsolete hand tools for oddly specific jobs. There are tents dedicated to vintage lighting and antique fixtures for restoring your new old furniture. Political pins and postcards dating back to the 1800s. Clown shoes and cauldrons and canoes. Funerary art made from the deceased’s hair. More things made of wicker than you’d imagine necessary.
Many of the vendors have their own antiques or interiors shops, and they make the trip once, twice and even three times a year from all over the country. More and more, though, it seems to be avid collectors who use the events as a way to justify their collections, selling off items to make way for new stuff.
A wicker viewing coffin from a closed funeral home for sale at Brimfield.D.H. Callahan
The buyers are everybody from locals interested in the hubbub to regional antique enthusiasts to career collectors. It’s not hard to find interior designers from Florida picking through the good stuff at every field. The social diversity is also pretty rich, with all races, ages and economic categories represented. Everybody seems to get along wonderfully, encouraging one another to make fun purchases and laughing together at the awkwardness of navigating their bodies around all the delicate delights.
Brimfield is all wrapped up for this year, but now is the perfect time to plan for next year. The trip is about two hours from the Northwest corner, so if you want to see all you can see, there are many hotels and motels with rooms available for the May show. Learn more, and plan your next trip at brimfieldantiquefleamarket.com.
Justine and Victor Valla in their studio with a painting of Victor’s,”Jonah and the Whale.” Robin Roraback 
