Friday Folks: Keeley Harris

'Vintage Arcade This Way' sign

We first met today’s Friday Folks interviewee, Keeley Harris, quite a few years ago now. She was, and still is, the organiser of a vintage fair we attended that was held at the beautiful Victoria Baths in Manchester. Since then our paths cross regularly, both online and in person. We’ve featured her on our blog before, when we’ve talked about the fair and when we reviewed her book – more of that and much more below – read on!

Keeley Harris

Who are you & what do you do?

My name is Keeley Harris and I’ve been head honcho at Discover Vintage since 2009, running various vintage events each and every year. My biggest event is the Festival of Vintage, which happens once a year at York Racecourse. That’s the one I’m planning for at the moment as it’s this month (23rd & 24th April). It takes 6 months of preparation as it offers lots more than just a typical vintage fair. We are two stages filled with entertainment, workshops to organise and a massive classic vehicle display to arrange amongst other things. Visitors come from across the UK; I’m proud that it’s seen as a key event in the Vintage Social calendar.

Festival of Vintage head-in-the-hole board

How did you get into the business?

I’ve always sold vintage, even with my dad as a child (quite a few years ago). When I moved back to Leeds in 2008, I started selling at fairs. I quickly realised that I could use my skills as an event manager (former proper job) to create really fab vintage events! Hence Discover Vintage was launched in 2009. Then, in 2011, I started the Festival of Vintage as I noticed a gap in the market for a large-scale festival in the north of the UK.

Vintage bread and biscuit tins on a stall at the Festival of Vintage, York

Who or what inspires you?

I’m inspired by my customers each and every day, the stall holders and visitors are the ones that give me ‘light bulb’ moments for new ideas. I love chatting to them to find out all about what they want from an event. My inspiration drives me to create new events that are unique and interesting, offering something people don’t always expect. I’d also say that entrepreneurs and the wider business world give me massive inspiration and make me feel that anything is possible. I’m very driven and love working hard to create the best events I can, there’s no better feeling than the end of a fabulous event!

'Style Me Vintage -home' book by Keeley Harris

What has been your greatest success?

Writing a book is my greatest success. I have mild dyslexia, so writing doesn’t come naturally to me and I had to lock myself away from everything for a few months so that I could put every effort into getting it just right. The huge sense of achievement in seeing my book on the bookshelves of many stores gave me a warm glow of excitement. However, I have to say that planning a big festival all by myself is probably a close second!

Vintage stall at the Festival of Vintage in York

Have you got any advice for someone wanting to break into the vintage business?

I would advise not to treat a vintage business as a hobby and give it real commitment if you want to succeed. Value your customers and look after them, they tend to return again and again. Embrace social media in all its forms. Be prepared to spend a percentage of your income on advertising as you can’t expect people to come and find you!

Vintage VW campervan at the Festival of Vintage, York

All images (except book) ©Laura and James Adams, Grandma Eileen’s

Manchester Vintage Home Show

"Manchester Vintage Home Show" blog post banner

stall at Manchester Vintage Home Show selling Midwinter Zambesi pottery and other vintage mid century modern homewares

There was no lie in for us today – no Sunday papers, no coffee & croissants in bed. We were up & out early to visit the Manchester Vintage Home Show at Victoria Baths.

view of 2 floors of stalls at Manchester Vintage Home Show, Victoria Baths

It was a cold & rainy day but the show still saw a huge turnout in punters. We saw a few of the lovely stall holders who were selling at the first show held back in June. Including PASH (Print Art Salvage Handmade), Planet Vintage Girl, RetroPattern, Smashing Time and Norwegian Wood. There were lots of first time sellers too – so much so that the show has expanded to include stalls upstairs. New stallholders we met & had a chat with included Levy Delights, All Mod Cons, Revival Furniture, snygg and 20thcenturycrox. Like last time round, the quality of the stuff on sale was of a really high standard. We made a couple of purchases – more about those on another blog post! In the meantime, have a look below at the ton of photos we took of some of the vintage loveliness that was on offer!

stall selling vintage Cathrineholm enamelware

stall selling vintage chairs painted & reupholstered in vintage fabric

rows of handmade cushions with figures of dogs for sale at Manchester Vintage Home Show

stall selling a selection of vintage mid century modern glass objects

selection of vintage items for sale on the Smashing Time stall

selection of vintage items on a stall including a small Gustavsberg pin dish

organiser of the Manchester Vintage Homeshow, Keeley Harris' stall

selection of vintage Lisa Larson pottery figures on a stall

mid century modern homewares on a stall at Manchester Vintage Home Show

stall selling a collection of vintage pottery mugs

vintage wooden nest of tables with Marian Mahler design tops

collection of orange vintage Cathrineholm Lotus enamel saucepans

vintage items for sale on the Norwegian Wood stall

range of industrial vintage items for sale on the PASH stall

vintage 1960s print of a girl by J H Lynch

stall with collection of vintage Washington pottery and Lord Nelson Pottery for sale

collection of vintage Parisienne and Red Domino pottery

collection of framed vintage fabric swatches

red plastic vintage Y Front advertising mannekin

large selection of vintage fabric for sale

items for sale on the Planet Vintage Girl stall

selection of mid century modern items for sale including a sunburst clock

Vintage Fair Fortnight

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detail of H is for Home's table display at the Todmorden vintage fair

A couple of weeks ago we blogged about our preparations for taking part in our first ever vintage fair. We put together a vintage fair check-list to make sure that we didn’t forget any of those essential bits & bobs.

You can download it here (it’s in PDF document) if you’re thinking about getting into doing craft/vintage fairs.

exterior of Victoria Hall, Saltaire

Two weekends ago, on a gorgeous, sunny Saturday, we had a stall at the Vintage Home & Fashion Fair in Victoria Hall, Saltaire.

H is for Home stall at the Vintage Home and Fashion Fair, Victoria Hall, Saltaire

Our good friend Duncan came along for moral support and to lend a hand.

Vanroe stall at the Vintage Home and Fashion Fair, Victoria Hall, Saltaire

It was lovely having the opportunity to meet customers & other vintage sellers face to face… something missing when you mainly sell online like we do.

smaller room at the Vintage Home and Fashion Fair, Victoria Hall, Saltaire smaller room at the Vintage Home and Fashion Fair, Victoria Hall, Saltaire

Last Saturday, we set up shop again, in our home town of Todmorden for the Treasure – Vintage Fair meets Handmade event.

exterior view of Todmorden Town Hall

Another gorgeous building hosted the event – this time it was Todmorden Town Hall.

vintage fair at Todmorden Town Hall

Beautiful inside too – look at that ceiling!

Justin setting up at the vintage fair at Todmorden Town Hall

Back to the setting up…

Adelle on the H is for Home stall at the vintage fair at Todmorden Town Hall

…there’s Adelle – ready to meet, greet and share in the vintage loveliness…

H is for Home stall at the vintage fair at Todmorden Town Hall

…and here’s a closer look at some of our wares!

We’ll be returning to the vintage fair scene in the autumn – hopefully see you there.