Hunting for antiques, Americana, textiles, lighting and furnishings in French brocante open-air style is not only proving a fun way to spend a Saturday, but a thriving business opportunity.
The Ticking Tent, which started as a biannual event staged amid the old-fashioned charm of Bedford, N.Y., and Litchfield, Conn., has grown into a platform for artisans, dealers, retailers and bespoke brands. Organizers are now contemplating four markets for 2027.
Three years in, a rising penchant for collectible vintage and artisanal Americana is driving growth. The event is expanding its reach with the first on-tour edition at North Carolina furniture fair High Point Fall Market at the 313 Space Oct. 16 to 18, founders Christina Juarez and Benjamin Reynaert told WWD.
Related Articles
As a way to foster a sense of connection and community, the High Point edition will include a wood-fired pizza evening, wines and spirits, a shopping preview, candy bar by Doyle Auction House and a coffee cart by paint maker Benjamin Moore.
With fans like Martha Stewart and interior designer Bunny Williams, The Ticking Tent has already proven to be a hub for networking. Louise Roe, founder of home brand Sharland England, and Eliza Crater Harris, creative director of Sister Parish Design, told WWD they forged a collaboration at The Ticking Tent, which they attended both as exhibitors and design curious. Bonding over their passion for interiors, antiques hunting at the open market, the meeting resulted in a new holiday home collaboration unveiled in September.
“We’re not simply creating a market; we’re really building a brand. What started as an event has really become a community — and a shared point of view,” Reynaert said.
The rise of The Ticking Tent is emblematic of a shift in how consumers want to shop and how brands — especially in the interiors space — are seeking events that transcend the traditional trade scene.
“With their eye for the authentic and the unusual, Christina and Ben have created a shopping event where designers and design lovers alike will find inspiration and a special treasure to bring home,” Crater Harris said. Crater Harris is the great-granddaughter of American interior designer Sister Parish, who rose to fame for her work with the families of the Gilded Age and the Kennedy-era White House.
Alternative events rooted in building community are on the rise. Denmark’s 3daysofdesign started in 2013 as a small, collaborative three-day event in a Copenhagen warehouse and today hosts over 450 brands with events in bustling open-air style throughout the city. In Paris, Dan Thawley, the former editor in chief of A Magazine Curated By, and trade show Interfilière Paris director Matthieu Pinet envisaged Matter and Shape in 2024 as a salon to bridge the gap between design and other creative industries like fashion. Since being introduced onto the scene, it too has incorporated a food and beverage and major shopping component.
High Point will be followed by The Ticking Tent’s return to Bedford at Ohho, the old firehouse, Nov. 13 to 14.
The event culminated in almost $1 million in sales transacted in one day in 2025 and 3.3 million media impressions.
“The Ticking Tent is just the gift that keeps on giving — not only is it one day of selling, where over $1 million in sales are transacted, but these vendors are talking to each other… and saying, ‘Oh my god, we should collaborate,’” Juarez enthused, adding that part of the draw of the event for both business operators and consumers is the element of discovery and the thrill of the hunt organizers seek to create with every edition.
Juarez is the founder of Christina Juarez and Company Public Relations and Reynaert is the U.S. editor of Homes and Gardens’ Anthology magazine. He’s also the author of “The Layered Home” and said their focus is on carefully curating “almost like we would make a magazine,” with intentional combinations of artisans, dealers, fashion brands and vintage specialists. They are also focused on propelling the careers of emerging antique dealers like Ian Rosoff’s France Ici Antiques, Greenwich, Conn.-based the Barns by Ali Mahon, New York-based Coleville Home, and next-generation dealer Christopher Cawley, alongside established ones like Kim Faison and Withington & Co. Antiques.
“We want to convey our mutual passion for antique and home decor and beautiful things and convey that passion and knowledge to our shoppers,” Juarez said, adding that brand owners and dealers are required to be present on the day of the market, so they can tell their stories and the provenance behind their pieces. “We want to educate our consumer.”
The duo’s signature tent fabric has also attracted a following. Their first signature ticking fabric was created with American textiles and wall covering firm Schumacher. They later developed a new version with Colours of Arley, working with Louisa Tratalos in the U.K. The team is also in the process of developing branded merchandise and a publication, The Ticking Tent Times.
Exhibitors past and present include a roster of well-known local and international brands like decorative lighting firm Pooky Lighting, home accessories firm The Gathered Lyne and homeware brand Caroline Irving & Daughters.