Sadly, that's partly as a security measure.

Organiser Euan Coutts told the Leader the fair had to deal with an attempted break-in at its venue in Tamworth Town Hall on Saturday night.

Unfortunately, the charity event is forced to pay for security guards all night for exactly that sort of threat, he said.

READ MORE:

"The security heard them because the security's inside, here on premises, all night," he said.

"They scampered off very quickly. But the message is probably, look, they've got security. It's not worthwhile.

"It is terrible, [but we need to spend the money] because jewellery, especially jewellery people have been robbed [at other events]."

Antiquers travelled from as far as Launceston in Tasmania in the South to the Gold Coast in the North to sell their wares, Mr Coutts said.

"It's one of the few surviving fairs, too," he said.

"Places like Newcastle don't even have a fair.

"We have one, Sydney has a couple, Brisbane have them, Orange has one.

"You know, [the antique fairs are] fairly well spread ... and that tends to fill the gap there for the demand that's out there.

"We know that we get [buyers] from well around the region, here."

Want more local news? Subscribe to the Leader to read it here first

Some stalls boast half-a-million dollars worth of jewellery or cutlery or other old-fashioned material, alone.

"The beauty of that is, you get regional variations in stuff and furniture and jewels, he said.

"I find Victorian furniture a slightly different to Queensland furniture.

"Tasmania has a lot of Huon Pine, you've got the Queensland pine ... pine's collectable.

"Prices of antiques, they've started to rise again, so I'd suggest now's the time."

Mr Coutts said preliminary estimates suggested that attendance was well up on previous years, even before the pandemic.

Every dollar of profit from the festival goes to the Oxley High School, he said.

It's likely to be thousands of dollars, at least.

After two years out of business thanks to COVID-19, every cent will be welcome, he said.

The Tamworth Antiques and Collectables Fair ran from Friday August 5 to Sunday August 8.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: