Following a period of uncertainty, trade fair organiser P.E. Schall (Frickenhausen / Germany; www.schall-messen.de) has announced that “Fakuma” will not take place as planned in 2020, but will instead be “postponed” to 12-16 October 2021 – the event organiser uses the term “postponement” likely due to contractual obligations it has with exhibitors. For visitors, this announcement is essentially a cancellation, as the next Fakuma would have taken place in 2021 anyway.

While Baden-Württemberg’s ministries of economics and social affairs in mid-July put new coronavirus regulations into effect solely for the purpose of enabling trade fairs and similar events to take place (see Plasteurope.com of 16.07.2020), a whole string of prominent exhibitors had already cancelled their attendance or announced reduced participation (see Plasteurope.com of 09.07.2020). A survey of exhibitors and visitors from previous Fakuma editions that were also registered for this year’s event was the decisive factor for a cancellation. P.E. Schall CEO Bettina Schall said, “As a trade fair company, we see ourselves as providing a service for exhibitors and trade visitors. The current uncertainties experienced by exhibitors and visitors, for example in regard to possible travels and sending enough employees, demand that we now look to the year 2021 with pragmatism and confidence.”

This turn of events is unsurprising. At the latest from the start of June, when Wittmann (Vienna / Austria; www.wittmann-group.com) – a member of the exhibitions advisory committee – coined the term “no active participation” and many companies followed suit (see Plasteurope.com of 30.06.2020), the doubts regarding the usefulness of a Fakuma at which visitors would be faced with an increasing number of stands with neither exhibits nor experts present gained momentum. The cancellation – sorry, postponement – is the logical conclusion.