This isn’t your grandmother’s antique show—even though it’s marking 78 years this February. Colonial Williamsburg’s (CW) Annual Antiques Forum, running Feb. 19–25, revives vintage in a way only this legendary town can. The 2026 theme, That the Future May Learn from the Past, commemorates both 250 years of American independence and CW’s own 100th anniversary.
Spanning centuries and continents, the forum dives deep into history—from Revolutionary-era flags and Virginia’s German shrunks to the lasting influence of CW on preservation and design. Highlights include the restoration of England’s Castle Howard, the Wyeth family’s vast collections, and Paul Revere’s silver shop daybooks. CW curators also share new insights into Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, presidential relics, early Craft House history, and Williamsburg’s “Original 88” buildings—celebrating a century of art, architecture, and Americana in the state’s beloved living history playground. ColonialWilliamsburg.com
Featured image courtesy of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation: Among the special collections at the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library in Williamsburg is the Nuremburg Chronicle, aka Liber chronicarum, an illustrated encyclopedia of biblical and world historical accounts published in 1493 and considered second in importance to the Gutenberg Bible among books of the era.
This article originally appeared in the February 2026 issue.
