A NEW record fair is coming to Warrington this weekend as part of the market’s new focus on regular events.

Twenty traders from all over the north west will be selling original collectible vinyl from a variety of different eras and genres of music from soul to punk.

The fair takes place on the upstairs floor of Warrington Market on Saturday from 10am to 5pm – and organiser John Beddows hopes to turn it into a monthly event if the demand is there.

John, who runs a similar event in Sandbach, said: “The market’s a fantastic venue right in the middle of the town with new facilities.

“If it’s anything like the other things that they’ve done like the Comic Con I think it should be quite successful.”

Warrington’s first record fair will be on a smaller scale but future events could have a bit of a mods and rockers feel.

John, whose day job is in student welfare at Macclesfield College, added: “It’s our first one so we’re just seeing how it works.

“But what we’ve done previously in Sandbach is have scooter clubs turn up. We’ve had 60 or 70 scooters outside and we’ve linked it with a band who play at the pub across the road so it makes it a bit more of a day.”

Across the 20 stalls around 20,000 records, including some rarities, will be on sale on the day costing anything from £1 to hundreds of pounds.

John said: “It’s really weird the whole vinyl and the way it’s really taken off.

“For some people vinyl has never gone away for and then there’s a whole new group of people who have bought into the vinyl experience.

“It’s tactile. You can touch it, you can pick it up, you can open it, you can read the notes that are inside. You can’t have this conversation about digital music players.”

John fell in love with music thanks to his mum Pat.

The 57-year-old added: “I’ve always said I was weaned on the Beatles. My mum was a big Beatles fan so the music was always there and it’s followed on with my children. My son John is a DJ.”

John, whose first record was Terry Jacks’ Seasons in the Sun, then spent his early career stage managing bands like Echo and the Bunnymen, The Farm and China Crisis.

He said: “I also used to manage The Picket which was the premier venue in Liverpool for a long time. A lot of bands came through there like the Happy Mondays and The Las.

“I was involved in music for about 15 years in Liverpool and my record collection and my interest in selling has evolved from that.

“I’ve seen some great live bands – probably thousands of bands actually – and that sparked my passion.

“People aren’t just selling records. They talk about music as it’s great to have that shared interest and to get recommendations. The people selling all have that passion and knowledge.

“I’ve got a guy who comes every so often and says: ‘I’m after a Sunday record’.

“He basically puts a record on with his paper and a coffee and sits there and chills on a Sunday morning listening to my recommendations.

“I still get excited when I find stuff that I’ve been particularly looking for. Bits of Sparks I’ve been picking up recently and I’ve been really pleased with that.

“What was really weird was I did a record fair a few weeks ago. I was looking through the 12 inch singles and in there was a band I used to manage and it was the single that we did.

“It was a band called The Nice Party in Runcorn who I think were one of the best bands to come from that way. It was quite a surprise and quite exciting just to pick it up. It wasn’t in the bargain bucket – that was the most important thing!”

Warrington Market's record fair takes place on Saturday from 10am to 5pm