The Affordable Art Fair Sydney has just wrapped up (6-9 November) and the final numbers are in. The Sydney edition saw 18,000 visitors make their way to the fair, with $5 million in total art sales across the four-day event.
Organisers have reported that this is a 50% increase on the 2024 fair – an increase consistent with both its 2025 Melbourne and Brisbane art fairs.
It is trend that the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair also reported last month. It achieved a record breaking $5.1 million in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art sales this year – a new milestone in the event’s history.
Read: Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair makes record breaking sales result
Small and affordable art fairs – quick links
Strong figures in contrast to the top end of town
While these small fairs – with their lower price points – continue to build sales year-on-year, the biggest fair in town, Sydney Contemporary, seems to be heading in the other direction.
It reported $16 million in sales over its four-day run this year (11-14 September) and yes, while that is more than all of the Affordable Art Fairs combined, what is more interesting is the trend of visitor behaviour.
Last year’s Sydney Contemporary made $17.5 million in art sales, a decrease on 2023 which hit $21 million and $23 million in 2022 in a continuing, steep downward trajectory.
Read: Was Sydney Contemporary a sales success? The numbers are in
Is the reason simply that Australia is still struggling as a society to value art at that higher investment level? The average artwork price across the Affordable Art Fairs is $1,400 to $1,700.
Running streak of increased art fair sales continues upward
Affordable Art Fair Australian Fair Director Georgia Huestis says of their success: ‘Our visitor numbers have really jumped this year across all three fairs. In an increasingly digital age, visitors are embracing the opportunity to view art in real life and interact with artists and galleries in person.’
She continues: ‘In Brisbane in May, we had 13,000 visitors with $3.3 million in art sales, and at Affordable Art Fair Melbourne in August, we saw over 18,000 visitors with $4.5 million in art sales onsite and $500,000 in after sales.’
That is an increase in both visitors and sales across all three states this year.
The Affordable Art Fair Sydney was staged at Carriageworks, where Sydney Contemporary was presented earlier in the year. It was an ambitious move by the smaller fair. Huestis adds: ‘We saw artworks racing out the door and art buyers were embracing, hugging, smiling and loving the shift to our new Carriageworks venue.’
The numbers prove that these events are not any lesser than their big muscle counterparts. Rather, they provide a vital function bringing collecting to a broader realm of audiences and, indeed, nurturing a next generation of collectors.
They also provide a great opportunity for artists sitting slightly outside the gallery representation structure to show and sell their work,
