Changes coming for Liberty Antiques Festival

The fall version of the Liberty Antiques Festival drew more large crowds last month, but operations of the event will change hands. (PJ Ward-Brown / Randolph Record)

LIBERTY — The growth of the Liberty Antiques Festival has surprised Vito Sico, but now it has become too big for him to continue to handle.

 Sico said he’ll step down from his role as operator of the biannual event as it reaches its 35th year, so he’s hoping a suitable replacement comes along.

The April 2026 festival will be the final one with him in charge, but he said he’s confident it will fall into good hands.

“We’ve got a lot of people interested,” he said. “I’m hoping someone local will want to do it.”

Sico, who turns 80 in January, said it’s time for him to back away. He helped formulate the festival, which is held on farm land outside Liberty, in September 1991.

“The aches and pains and headaches are getting harder to handle,” he said.

Some of the festivals have drawn more than 320 vendors, often representing as many as 25 states. Last month’s edition attracted 290 dealers willing to set up spots on the grounds.

“A lot of people really enjoy it,” Sico said.

 He said many of the dealers and other attendees come from 100 miles away to take part in the event. He said many of those people might spend an entire week in Randolph County or the area because of the festival.

“People spend a lot of money in the county,” he said of the festival’s impact.

Once established, the festival was held the final Friday and Saturday each April and again the last Friday and Saturday every September. The Pike Farm Road site has a Staley address.

The first festival attracted 81 vendors.

“Eighty-one seemed huge,” Sico said.

Part of the appeal has been the limited number of antique shows of this scale in this part of the country, Sico said.

Several days after the September event, Sico was still expressing concern about getting the property cleaned up so that the spring set-up will go smoothly.

Sico, who moved to Liberty from New Jersey in 1985, said he appreciates the assistance from numerous festival helpers through the years. Many of those people have reached the point where they can no longer handle a significant workload, he said.

The last festival under Sico’s watch is scheduled for April 24 and 25.