The first in-person Drupa in eight years will run at Messe Düsseldorf from Tuesday 28 May to Friday 7 June 2024 and Drupa has confirmed to Printweek that the largest stand areas have been booked by Koenig & Bauer and HP.

The former has booked a large presence in hall 16, close to partner Durst Group, while HP has booked out the whole of the smaller hall 17 although there is unused space around the edge of the hall.

The hall plan shows several grey – or currently unallocated – stands in some of the 19 halls, including the new ‘digital’ halls – 8a and 8b – although Drupa said it is still in the process of registering exhibitors “and are seeing a lot of interest, so the exhibitor database will continue to fill up in the coming months”.

The total number of exhibitors confirmed to date has not been revealed.

Last month, Canon’s participation in the event was confirmed by Drupa. The manufacturer had been absent from the initial list of exhibitors but will be exhibiting at hall 8a.

Major industry names that do not appear on the current hall plan include Langley Holdings and its subsidiary Manroland Sheetfed.

Landa will once again be exhibiting in hall 9, while Heidelberg and its partners will return to hall 1, although there were several grey spaces in that hall at the time of writing. Many of the other halls are dominated by Chinese and Far East exhibitors.

Hall 7 is entirely devoted to new area ‘DNA - Drupa Next Age’, which will give start-ups a platform where they will be able to present themselves to an international expert audience.

The event’s Drupa Cube area in hall 6, meanwhile, will look at topics including packaging, textiles, and sustainability, and participants will be given in-depth insights into relevant themes and potential growth areas.

Digitalisation will be one of the focal points at the event next year, encompassing AI, platform economy, and the openness to new products in the field of industrial applications. Sustainability topics including the circular economy, energy efficiency, and resource conservation will also be high on the agenda.

Sabine Geldermann, director of Drupa and Portfolio Print Technologies at Messe Düsseldorf, commented: “The current level of bookings and the positive feedback we have received confirm this: the global printing and packaging industry is once again relying on Drupa as its business platform and the world's most important industry meeting place.

“With around 80% international attendance on the exhibitor side, Drupa occupies an outstanding position by global standards. The range, variety and staging of innovations are unique and will once again provide a glimpse into the future of this industry. With ideal prerequisites for exhibitors and visitors to network intensely and drive forward-looking projects.”

More information on the show is available at: drupa.com.

Our recent briefing, meanwhile, looked at the progress that could be made in the digital colour space at the event.