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DRUPA 2021
DRUPA 2021 SHORTENED RUNTIME: APRIL 20-28
drupa, the world’s leading trade fair for printing technologies, has decided to reduce the duration of the trade fair from eleven to nine days for
2021. By doing so, it is responding to the wishes of the partner association VDMA (Printing and Paper Technology Trade Association) and many exhibitors to make the trade fair presentation more efficient and to concentrate the volume of visitors in a targeted manner. This is also in reaction to any continuing travel activities and restrictions.
“Since we are currently assuming that fewer visitors from overseas will be able to travel to drupa 2021, we consider a reduction from eleven to nine days to be sensible in order to direct visitor flows more efficiently. At the same time, the duration of nine days ensures that running machines can still be shown, which is a unique selling point of drupa,” explains drupa President Claus BolzaSchünemann.
Despite some corona related cancellations, the current booking status remains at a high level with
Organisers of The Print Show have confirmed that the event will be postponed until 2021, due to the ongoing novel coronavirus (Covid-19) situation in the UK.
The Print Show, and new sister event The Sign
Show, had been due to run from September 27th to 29th at the NEC in Birmingham, with a number of leading brands having already committed to the show.
The two events will now run from September 28th to 30th next year at the NEC.
Event director Chris Davies says that while every effort had been made to go ahead with the event, it has become clear in recent weeks that restrictions caused by Covid-19 mean that hosting the show this year would not be possible.
“Before anything else, the health and safety of our exhibitors and guests is our number one concern, and while it was a difficult decision, we believe this is the right course of action,” Davies says.
“While we hope the situation with Covid-19 will have improved by September, there is no guarantee that the event would be permitted to go ahead due to the current government restrictions.
“The government is yet to make any announcements as to when large gatherings or events can take place again, and we have to be realistic. Planning to host a large scale event like
The Print Show this year is just not feasible, given the level of uncertainty as to what situation the UK will be in come September.
“Therefore, we have decided that the best course of action would be to postpone both The
Print Show and sister event The Sign Show until over 1,500 exhibitors and a net hall space of more than 140,000 sqm. This once again underlines the industry’s confidence in the international appeal of the event and the need for face to face meetings, acquisition of new customers or live presentation of running machines still exists. “Many of our customers also see it as their own responsibility to strengthen the industry and provide important impulses personally on site,” says drupa Director Sabine Gelder
In order to guarantee a professional and safe trade fair as usual, drupa not only adapted the next year, when we hope the worst of the crisis will have subsided.”
Davies also revealed that The Print Show has reached an agreement with many of the companies that had already signed up to attend in 2020 to instead exhibit at the rearranged event next year.
“We’re finalising the details with our exhibitors and we’ll be making a number of announcements in the coming weeks and months, but it is fantastic to see this level of confidence in the show,” Davies says.
“I’ve been touched by the amount of support our exhibitors have offered and I will be delighted to
general conditions but also relies on a hygiene and infection protection concept that is continuously adapted to the latest corona protection regulations and official requirements. Sabine Geldermann points out: “The character of drupa in 2021, due to the pandemic and hygiene regulations, will certainly be different from what we are used to, but it will continue to make a very important contribution to the economic recovery.”
Additional information on Messe Düsseldorf’s hygiene and infection protection concept can be
THE PRINT SHOW POSTPONED TO SEPTEMBER 2021
found at www.drupa.com
welcome them to the rearranged edition of The Print Show next year.
“We remain fully committed to delivering a quality event that solely focuses on the UK printing industry. The Print Show is the only event dedicated to the UK market and as we emerge from lockdown and build for a brighter future, we believe our event will play a key role in this recovery process.”
For more updates and news about The Print Show and The Sign Show, follow the events on Twitter: @theprintshow / @thesignshowuk
