Updated , by the owners of the villa.
The Sunday brocante
It runs on avenue des Quatre Otages, 9 am to 6 pm, every Sunday of the year. Dozens of dealers set out everything from a few-euro trinket to collectors’ furniture.
Sunday therefore carries two events: the Provençal market in the morning and the brocante all day. The centre is largely pedestrian and the car parks are full by mid-morning.
The tourist office describes the town as Europe’s third centre for brocante and antiques, behind London and Saint-Ouen. That is a municipal claim rather than a third-party ranking; the number of dealers based here year-round, on the other hand, can be checked.
The antique villages
Beyond Sunday, former warehouses have been converted into permanent galleries. The tourist office lists six of them, for 250 to 300 dealers based here year-round.
Entry is free and carries no obligation to buy. The Village des Antiquaires de la Gare alone gathers around a hundred galleries; the Île aux Brocantes, the Hôtel Dongier, the Quai de la Gare and the Carré de L’Isle complete the set, all within walking distance of the centre.
Most close on Tuesday and Wednesday, some on Thursday as well. Trading runs from Friday to Monday: a stay set in midweek can find almost everything shut.
The two fairs of the year
Twice a year, at Easter and around 15 August, the town holds an international fair at the parc Gautier, on the bank of the Sorgue. Around a hundred exhibitors join the permanent shops.
The fair has run since 1966 and now draws, according to the organisers, more than a hundred thousand visitors per edition. The centre and its car parks feel it across the whole weekend.
The dates follow Easter and the 15 August weekend, so they change every year; the tourist office publishes them.
