BRIMFIELD, Mass. — If you are into antiques, you were likely devastated to learn the COVID-19 crisis was closing the May dates for the world-famous Brimfield antiques show.
Three times a year, thousands of people make their way to this Central Massachusetts town where hundreds of dealers set up tables and tents brimming with antiques and hard to find items.
Brimfield is as much a social event as it is an antiques shopper’s paradise.
“It’s not just a show for a lot of us,” Klia Crisafulli of Hertain’s Antiques Shows explains. “For a lot of us, it has taken on a deeper meaning.”
The Brimfield antique show is actually a collection of individual shows staged by groups of antiques dealers.
And many of them are banding together to create a virtual Brimfield antiques show, to keep the spirit of Brimfield alive, even as the coronavirus is keeping people home.
“It’s a community of almost family,” Justin Nash of the Facebook group, Brimfield Online explains. “The dirt runs in our socks, the same way it runs in our blood.”
Klia Crisafulli said she will run her virtual Brimfield on her Facebook Page, Hertan’s Antiques Show and Brimfield LIVE starting on May 12, the actual day the physical Brimfield was supposed to open.
She will live stream the annual bell ringing that signals the start of Brimfield. And over the next several days, her Brimfield LIVE Facebook page will video and live events with the dealers who would normally set up on Hertan’s field, a large field she bought in January.
“The shows are actually opening when they’re supposed to open, and then their dealers will showcase their goods so everyone can participate from home,” Klia explains.
Another Facebook Page, Brimfield Online, has only launched in the last few days, and already membership is soaring.
Organizer Justin Nash is enlisting some big names like Robbie Wolf of American Pickers to spread the word.
Brimfield Online will feature dealers and live events all designed to bring the Brimfield antique community together, despite the worldwide pandemic spreading across Massachusetts.
“We’re trying to make this into a festival, “ Nash tells said. “Let’s make this fun, let’s make this an experience for everybody. It doesn’t have to be so sad and depressing.”
The Brimfield antiques show runs from May 12- May 17.
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