Event

Fespa switches frequency and format of flagship event to make it 'biggest yet'

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Fespa has revealed the location for its next ‘screen-plus-digital-plus textiles’ show and switched the frequency to a biannual event to avoid a clash with Drupa 2016, opting instead to run its flagship event in 2015.

Next year’s main Fespa will take place at Koelnmesse in Cologne, Germany and be bought forward from the provisionally planned 2016 to May 2015, in direct response to market research.

According to Fespa, the feedback indicated that exhibitors wanted to move the event to 2015 “to avoid Drupa, but also because a three-year cycle was too long in terms of the current rate of technological change in the sector”. Fespa will review if the main show should revert to its traditional triennial frequency with further research after Cologne 2015.

However, the 2015 show will also move to a working week format “to better reflect the changing needs of visitors” and as a result the Cologne event will take place over 18-22 May, running Monday to Friday inclusive.

“Whatever we do it’s got to reflect the needs of the market and if we said it was just going to be the same as previous years without consulting vendors and visitors then we wouldn’t be as successful as we are,” said Fespa chief executive Neil Felton.

The 2015 exhibition will occupy at least three of the new pillar-less 'super halls’ at Koelnmesse, offering a potential combined footprint of almost 60,000sqm.

“They’re very big halls and I firmly believe that Fespa 2015 will be the biggest show ever. Within minutes of Tweeting the location and dates we had enquiries about booking stands. We’ve had to allocate extra staff to field the enquiries,” said Felton.

He hinted the event would also boast a host of new features, which would be unveiled later this year.

Regarding Fespa Digital 2014, which is being held in 20-23 May in Munich, Felton said that this year’s show was already on course to be the biggest digital event to date.

“Fespa Digital in May is going incredibly well. We’re already confirmed as being 2,000sqm bigger than our largest digital event – it’s looking really good. The key thing now is to work really hard to get the visitors there,” said Felton.

Fespa’s largest digital event to date was Hamburg in 2011, which had a net footprint of 18,000sqm and attracted more than 13,000 visitors.

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