Sixth Record Fair sees hundreds descend on York Racecourse

York Record Fair saw vendors and buyers from across the globe come together for the sixth time in the Knavesmire stand in Racecourse Road.

Families and established collectors were joined by first- time visitors seen poring over the more than 150 tables filled with collectables.

CDs, 78s, music-related books and posters were also on offer.

Emma, James, Josh and Macy with the newly desirable 1994 debut release from Oasis (Image: Kevin Glenton) Emma, James, Josh and Macy travelled up from Boroughbridge and showed The Press some of their purchases.

James said: “I want to get my collection back up and running – I had LPs in the past and then moved on to CDs."

Emma said she may have bought him a special Christmas present to help with his rediscovered love for collecting vinyl records.

Oasis’ 1994 debut Definitely Maybe – a firm current favourite according to vendor Russ Conway – was in the bag, along with Dire Straits' worldwide smash Brothers in Arms, and a Meatloaf classic among others.

James added: “This is my first record fair and we were actually about to leave because we’ve spent too much!”

James said he and son Josh planned to listen to some of the records together and Josh - who streams via Spotify - told us he was impressed with the sleeves of the LPs.

Josh also said he’d spotted a release by his sister Macy’s favourite artist Adele in one of the boxes.

From the organisers, John Cox said: “The choice here is of a really good quality, the vendors have come from as far afield as London and Glasgow, as well as places in between.

“We had phone calls from New York state and Sweden from buyers who were coming over making arrangements for payment in advance, and there are Japanese buyers here too.”

John Cox said international buyers were attending and praised the quality of the items on offer (Image: Kevin Glenton) Vendors Russ Conway and Josh Wheeler have been attending fairs like the one at the Knavesmire Stand at York Racecourse for years.

Josh said: “This is a very, very busy fair.

“One of those where people are still at your stall when you’re trying to close up for the day.

“The success is in part down to John Cox, who really does a great job of promoting the event on social media.

“There’s lots of parents with kids here as well as customers of all generations.”

Josh Wheeler and Russ Conway (Image: Kevin Glenton) They both agreed that the market was at it’s lowest around 2008 – 2010 then ‘trendsetters’ and morning TV programmes broadcast the potential in collecting vinyl.

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Russ said that he felt that there has been a reaction to downloads, with people having nothing to show for their purchases, whereas there’s something tangible about vinyls and their sleeve art.

Albums from Led Zepelin, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, The Beatles and Black Sabbath were among the most popular and from the current crop, The Arctic Monkeys long-players are always in demand.

York Record Fair returns to the Knavesmire Stand at York Racecourse on April 5, 2025.