47_49_Spring Fair_v2.qxp_Grid 17/01/2025 12:43 Page 1
Showtime… SPRING FAIR
I have a dream
DIAMOND GEEZERS
It’s the diamond jubilee for Spring Fair with its semisesquicentennial event running at Birmingham’s NEC over 2-5 February. PG takes a look at the show’s history, along with memories and some of the dreams and fears of exhibitors. As Spring Fair is all set to mark its 75th anniversary, the show has grown exponentially since it began up in Blackpool in 1950, and has royalty, building works and plenty of diamond geezers in its history. And the timing of this year’s show, which opens on Sunday, 2 February, is perfect, marking exactly 49 years since the then monarch, Queen
“I often dream on the eve of a trade show that I’ve driven to the show and I open my boot and I have forgotten all the stuff, my boot is totally empty – arghhhhh!” laughed Dom Early, of Earlybird Designs. “There's also the one where I turn up to the trade show and they’ve moved my stand to outside the toilet miles away from anywhere and just given me an old table, when I complain I get a telling off. And also I’m sometimes naked or just don't have any pants on! “What surprises me is I’m fairly organised, so there’s no real reason for these dreams but in one fell swoop I get imposter syndrome, forget everything, don’t trust the organisers and have a fear of being exposed! “I’d have thought that, after 10 years of trade shows, I'd have put these fears to bed, but it clearly affects even the experienced exhibitor – my industry pals like Sarah Jackson at Stormy Knight and Lizzie Parker from Penguin Ink get them too, so we're all in this together. “AnnoyingIy, I never dream about taking tons of orders or a distributor spending £20,000 in one go so on this occasion I’m glad my trade show dreams actually don't come true!” Earlybird Designs, stand 3Q24 Below: Dom dreams on with pals Sarah and Lizzie.
Elizabeth II, opened both the NEC in Birmingham, and Spring Fair’s first outing in its new home. Since that day in 1976, the trade fair which is now owned by Hyve Group has been springing forward to become the UK’s largest gift and home event with more than a dash of greeting cards in the mix and, as the NEC’s largest event in terms of space, even persuaded the venue to build the newest halls 17-20 due to increasing Left: Queen Elizabeth II opened the very first Spring Fair in in 1950 as well as when the show moved to the then brand new NEC in 1976. Below left: Rachel Hare, founder of Belly Button Designs whose trade fair launch was at the Spring Fair in 1994, which involved meeting King Charles in the Prince’s Trust area.
demand for space and visitors in the 1990s. While exhibitors have come and gone over the past 75 years, and the show has been trimmed from five days down to four, there are many
Coming to life However long you’ve been in the business, and however big the publisher, everyone is subject to the same anticipation when it comes to Spring Fair. “It’s all about anticipating, as it’s exciting and I look forward to seeing the endless sketches and backdrops come to life on the pod on Cardgains Village,” said UKG’s regional sales manager Andrew Thomas. “There are the sleepless nights, worrying about getting there and finding everything we’ll need to set the display up – will the display fit? But I love bumping into former colleagues as we all struggle to get everything ready for the opening – that coffee and sandwich when it’s finished and ready for the Sunday opening is a delight!”
Above: Just a taster of what UKG will be showing on its pod at this year’s Spring Fair.
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 47