Fespa 2021 opens its doors

Fespa’s Global Print Expo 2021 runs until Friday
Fespa’s Global Print Expo 2021 runs until Friday

Fespa’s Global Print Expo 2021 has kicked off at the RAI exhibition centre in Amsterdam, welcoming wide-format printers and signmakers back to a live event for the first time since May 2019.

At 10am today (12 October) the doors to the four-day event, as well as the co-located speciality print and signage show European Sign Expo 2021, opened to visitors.

A raft of suppliers and manufacturers will be showing new and recently launched products at the event, which is sponsored by Brother and Mimaki. Highlights will be covered during the week, where Printweek will be reporting live from the show floor.

Features at this year’s event, which is running with the theme ‘Bringing Colour Back’, include the Printeriors collection of bespoke interior decor applications, and World Wrap Masters Europe 2021 – the European leg of the vehicle wrap competition.

This year, for participants who are unable to attend the events due to ongoing travel restrictions, Fespa will also livestream a series of interviews with suppliers and Fespa members, to offer a flavour of the event. The key focus of the livestreams is on innovation and market trends, and participants include Brother, Canon, Durst, Mimaki, and Roland DG among others.

The livestream will be available from today for the first three days of the show at fespaglobalprintexpo.com, under the ‘Fespa Live’ tab.

Fespa CEO Neil Felton said it was great to open a live Fespa event after such a long period without a show.

“We can’t wait to welcome our community back and feel the buzz of a live show, enjoy meeting people face-to-face again and see the latest innovations.

“We’re confident that these events in Amsterdam will inspire speciality print and signage businesses as they turn their attention to the future and focus on business recovery and long-term growth.”

Visitors to the show, which concludes on Friday (15 October), will have a contactless experience, with entry badges held on their phones via an online visitor portal which will also give online access to brochures, magazines, and product information, and enable direct connection with suppliers. A raft of Covid-safe regulations are also in place to minimise the risk to visitors.