Messe Düsseldorf – cancellation of interpack and drupa

 

After consultation with its partners from associations, industry and the trade fair advisory board, Messe Düsseldorf has decided to cancel interpack and components 2021 from 25 February to 3 March due to the restrictions caused by the Covid 19 pandemic.

"We have made every effort to do justice to the outstanding importance of interpack for the processing & packaging industry even in pandemic times – above all because we have received some positive feedback for a presence trade fair from the industry and have a practice-proven hygiene concept for the protection of all participants. Ultimately, however, the feedback from the exhibitors clearly shows that the uncertainty is too great to organise an interpack that can live up to its claim to be a leading international trade fair," explains Wolfram N. Diener, chairman of the board of management of Messe Düsseldorf. "Unfortunately, the decision of the Federal-State Conference on 25 November to tighten up the measures in Germany and probably even extend them into the new year does not give rise to hopes of a significant improvement in the coming months. This will affect all events organised by Messe Düsseldorf in the first quarter. We are now looking forward to the next regular interpack in May 2023, which we will supplement with expanded online offerings," Diener continues.

Messe Düsseldorf had offered registered exhibitors discounted conditions for participation and at the same time granted a special right of termination for companies that could not or did not want to participate.

"In addition to the unique coverage of the market, interpack is characterised above all by the direct exchange between market-leading companies and top decision-makers from branded goods manufacturers from all over the world. The persistently high infection rates, also in Central Europe, and the associated and ongoing travel restrictions and quarantine regulations now prevent exactly this to a large extent. We therefore welcome Messe Düsseldorf's decision to cancel interpack 2021 and are building on interpack 2023," says Christian Traumann, president of interpack 2021 and managing director & group president at Multivac Sepp Haggenmüller SE & Co. KG.

Following close consultation with exhibitors and partners, drupa, the world's leading trade fair for print technologies, also has to be cancelled for 2021 due to the impact of the corona pandemic. The next event will be held from 28 May to 7 June 2024. Until then the organisers are bridging the time window with "virtual.drupa", a four-day digital event. The date of "virtual.drupa" is within the time frame originally planned for drupa: 20 to 23 April 2021.

"The pandemic has caused great uncertainty among exhibitors and visitors regarding participation in drupa 2021. Travel restrictions and budget pressures have increasingly exacerbated the situation in the print media industry," explains Erhard Wienkamp, COO of Messe Düsseldorf. "We have made this decision together with our partners, who support this step. This was preceded by a detailed process of consideration, taking into account the current framework conditions and the needs of the industry.”

Sabine Geldermann, project director Print Technologies, adds: "Our primary goal remains to support the industry with all means at our disposal to stay in touch with each other on a national and international level, to further strengthen their network and generate leads. To this end, there will be an intermediary event from 20 to 23 April to provide our exhibitors and visitors with an additional sales channel and planning security."

Claus Bolza-Schünemann, president of König und Bauer and president of drupa, welcomes this approach: "A virtual event is exactly the right format in these times. Participating at drupa under the familiar parameters was simply too risky for many exhibitors against a backdrop of declining exports and sales, and severe travel restrictions – even for visitors. The new digital forum, whose reliable pillar is a virtual platform, offers the opportunity to maintain the valuable exchange within the industry until 2024."

The drupa preview platform launched in October has already given a preview of what "virtual.drupa" will look like: Here companies will have the opportunity to make virtual presentations and showcase their innovations; matchmaking will enable new contacts to be made and existing ones to be cultivated; the conference programme of the five drupa hotspots will provide important impulses and, through its agenda-setting, ensure knowledge transfer online. International speakers from vertical markets will present successful brand stories on future technologies in the Cube, for example, and point the way to the future of the industry with their lectures.

Caption: Impressions of interpack 2017 (photo: Messe Düsseldorf)