THE Afro Hair and Beauty Show is bidding a fond farewell to Alexandra Palace after 15 years of glamour.

Generally, the fashion and style event drew crowds to Haringey of up to 10,000 people on each day of the annual May Bank Holiday weekend event, but next month it is returning to its former home of Islington.

For more than a decade, it was to Ally Pally, in Alexandra Palace Way, Wood Green, where style-concious men and women from London’s black communities flocked, to hear about the next big thing in looking good and to carry away goodie bags bursting with freebies.

Designers, hair stylists and makeup artists from as far afield as Africa and America, would set up shop, eager to show off the tricks of their trade, while visitors were entertained by musical performances on the stage and competitions, such as Battle of the Barber.

Show organiser Grace Kelly said: "It is sad to leave Alexandra Palace, but the show is all about fashion and staying fresh, and the time came for us to move on.

"It was once a great venue, but the building is falling into disrepair and it doesn’t look as good as it once did.

"A few years ago, there were big plans to revamp the palace with bars and restaurants, and we were eager to be a part of that, but it has never materialised."

Tottenham businesswoman Maxine Griffiths, who runs Platform Artists of the Stage, said she had attended the event, now in its 29th year, for most of her life, from its humble beginnings in Kensington Town Hall in 1981.

The event would hold seminars and workshops to teach black women new ways to style their hair, helping it to evolve from a trade show to a popular lifestyle event centred around a million-pound industry.

It is often joked in the black community that barber shops and hair and nail salons are the second staple behind churches, something that is is reflected in the numbers of these shops in West Green Road, and High Road, Tottenham.

Ms Griffiths said: "Over the May Bank Holiday weekend, the Afro Hair and Beauty Show, has always been the place to be. Most people would spend the day at Luton Carnival, then head to Alexandra Palace for the Hair and Beauty Show.

"If the weather was good, everyone would turn up and mingle on the grounds — and looking fabulous, of course. I don’t know many black women who don’t spend at least £80 or £100 [a month] on their hair or nails.

"Over the years, hair and beauty has changed. Once it was about the Jheri curl, relaxers and then it went on to braids. Now, it is weaves that is the big thing. That’s the beauty of fashion — it changes. So, I’m looking forward to the new venue in Islington."

The Afro Hair and Beauty Show takes place at Islington Design Centre on May 30-31.

For more information visit www.afrohairshow.com