The Liberty Antiques Festival (or the worlds largest garage sale)

Another thing to ♥ about living in the Piedmont Triad is the Liberty Antiques Festival which is going on right now. Tickets are $7 a person, with children and parking free!

The Liberty Antiques Festival is a bi-annual celebration of buying and selling classic goods. It's like a giant recycling program for furniture, paintings, as well as: pottery, glass, clocks, dolls, toys, military items, jewelry, folk art, and much more! There's even food at this festival some call the World's Largest Garage Sale. For these few days, the population of Liberty grows by 10 times, with more than 10,000 antique lovers from twenty five states, descending upon the 100 acre fields of Pike Farm just outside Liberty, NC.

Started in 1991 by Vito Sico, Mary Ellen, and Janet Hill better known as JanMar Promotions developed the Liberty Antiques' Festival into a national event that was recently voted best antiques show in the mid-Atlantic region.

Liberty Antiques Festival offers treasures for novice and seasoned antique collectors

“We turned a hobby into a career,” says Mary Sico of Liberty, NC. The hobby is antique hunting and the career involves coordinating (along with her husband Vito and her business partner, Janet Hill ) the twice annual Liberty Antiques Festival. Each year a show is scheduled in the spring and in the fall. For 2006 the dates are April 28-29 and September 29-30.

As a young married couple still in college , Sico and her husband combed the “junk stores for furniture, then moved to antiques.” She says antique hunting is a “nice hobby for couples, single people and young people.” Even children can find an area of interest in antiques or the collectibles market. Sico says her son collected action figures as he was growing up.

The April show will host approximately 400 vendors from all over the country and will include early painted furniture, American pottery and country primitive. “Antiques are at least 25 years old,” says Sico.. Many of the merchants have participated in the festival since its inception in September of 1991.

For novice or seasoned antique/collectible hunters, come prepared to spend time visiting various vendors at the Liberty Antiques Festival. Sico suggests that folks listen to the local weather forecast and prepare accordingly. The festival goes on “rain or shine.” Also, dress in layers and do your homework by checking out some of the great antique and collectible books on the market.