spoga+gafa reschedules

COLOGNE, Germany: Trade show organiser Koelnmesse  has announced that its garden and outdoor living trade show spoga+gafa will no longer take place in 2020. 

Originally set to take place from 6-8 September 2020 at Messe Koln, spoga+gafa has now been rescheduled with 30 May- 1 June 2021 being the new dates. The venue remains unchanged.

Despite the show floor being almost fully booked, too much uncertainty surrounding the trade show industry made organisers decide to move the exhibition to 2021.  The news about new Covid-19 cases in Germany played definitely a role.

The current travel situation is uncertain – particularly at the intercontinental level. The official statement reads, “That is why in recent weeks a large majority of exhibitors and trade visitors decided not to attend spoga+gafa after all. In the end, the extensive preparations for the trade fair along with the stringent safety measures for the coronavirus-compliant implementation of our trade fairs were not enough to convince hesitant trade fair attendees. For this reason Koelnmesse reassessed the overall situation together with the Advisory Board and decided that it was best to respond to the cancellations and wishes of a large number of industry exhibitors and visitors by not implementing spoga+gafa 2020. The event will also be rescheduled permanently at the request of the industry. The next edition of spoga+gafa is thus set to be held from 30 Ma to-1 June 2021.

Commenting on the show’s cancellation for this year, Koelnmesse COO Oliver Frese observed: “The aim of our conversations with the industry is to work together to give a strong trade fair a chance to gain even more strength and market relevance. The focus here is on the ordering behaviour seen in many parts of the industry, which has evolved over the years. In order to do an even more effective job of taking this into account, starting next year, spoga+gafa will be held permanently at the end of May or the beginning of June.”