Under cloudy skies and breezy 80-degree weather the fields of Warrenton were alive today.

Trucks and trailers are streaming towards the show grounds. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of dealers are already here, setup and doing business.

Even though today was Good Friday, we estimate that about 75% of the field dealers that will be here next Saturday were open for business. More than half the dealers have arrived and opened at The Old Depot in Round Top (photo above).  Already there are more dealers and vendors here than anyone person can see in a 10-hour day.

There was a lot of pre-show speculation that this year's Easter timing and the September 11 attacks would shrink the Great Texas Antique Weekend. So far there's no evidence that this show will be anything less than the biggest yet. Of course we'll know for sure next week!

Virtually every dealer here will be open for business every day until the day they pack up and leave. The largest number of dealers will close for business sometime on Saturday April 6th.

Here at AntiqueWeekend.com we've been swamped with show e-mail. Hopefully we can answer most of the questions in these newsletters.

Despite lots of cloudy skies it stayed dry all day. The chance of rain forecast for Saturday has increased from 40 up to 80 percent. Some thunderstorms may be severe. The good news is that it is also forecast to pass through on Saturday and be dry again Sunday.

Seems that it always rains at least one day each Antique Weekend. The vendors and dealers however are prepared to do whatever they can to keep the rain from dampening their sales. Bring your rubber boots, umbrella and wallet because a little or even a lot of rain won't stop this event.

Stay tuned to AntiqueWeekend.com for all your Texas antique show schedules and news.

Remember when you attend the shows that there's lots of great antiquing to be done in Fayette County. Plan to spend several days during the shows and visit again during a weekend between shows to see all that this antiquing region has to offer and let AntiqueWeekend.com be your official guide.

We look forward to seeing you at the Great Texas Antique Weekend.