News from Berlin, Sofia and Beyond

Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 1/8/2007

Over the holidays, the international exhibition industry had several announcements of new events, sites, collocations and other changes:

• Although the German fashion event Bread & butter Berlin was canceled, a new one, BBB Kraftwerk, will debut in its place at the Vattenfall power station in Berlin Mitte Jan. 26–27, the same dates Bread & butter was scheduled. Show manager Bread & Butter Berlin expects the event to span 22,000 square meters (236,800 square feet).
• The fourth edition of Intergeo East will be held March 1–2 at the Inter Expo Center Sofia in Sofia, Bulgaria, after stints in Belgrade, Serbia, in 2004 and 2006 and Zagreb, Croatia, in 2005. A conference associated with the show, which focuses on land management, geoinformation, building and environmental products, begins Feb. 28. Because of Sofia's proximity to Greece and Turkey, officials from German show management firm Hinze believe the city is ideal. Hinze expects 80 exhibiting companies and roughly 4,000 professional attendees.
• The Hong Kong Intl. Jewelry Show 2007, scheduled March 6–10 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, has added square footage and an extra day to its exhibition.
• Messe Frankfurt has changed the name of Interstoff Asia to Interstoff Asia Essential as a way of emphasizing the original, innovative and niche fabrics on display at the show, organizers said. The first edition of Interstoff Asia Essential will take place March 14–16 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
• Fira Barcelona's Construmat 2007, an international construction show in its 15th year, will host the first-ever Concepto Bano Intl. Bathroom Show, a trade fair for sanitary wares, taps, fittings and bathroom furniture, created to coincide with the main show. Construmat also will encompass the Pintudecora Intl. Paint Show, featuring products from the paint supplies sector. The show is scheduled May 14–19 at Barcelona's Montjuic and Gran Via exhibition center.
• The first Schweissen & Schneiden Russia will take place in Moscow concurrently with the Wire, Tube, Metallurgy/Litmash, Aluminium, SHK Moscow and Technoforum fairs, which together attract 500 exhibitors from 35 countries and 20,000 attendees. Since 1952, organizer Messe Essen has hosted the quadrennial Intl. Welding Fair Schweissen & Schneiden in Essen, Germany. The Russian spinoff, focusing on welding technologies, will debut May 28–31 at Moscow's Expocentr. Messe Essen said demand for construction materials that meet western standards is growing rapidly in Russia. Other editions of Schweissen & Schneiden take place in China and India.
• The ITE Group, London and Vienna-based MSI Fairs & Exhibitions have agreed to combine their autumn Russian travel events Select Travel Expo and Leisure Otdykh. The joint event is slated for Oct. 3–5 at Moscow's Expocentr. Both show names will be retained, and the event will feature products and services from all sectors of the travel industry. ITE Chief Executive Ian Tomkins said the combination would provide the travel industry in Russia with an event at the best time of the year for securing business for the subsequent travel season. ITE's Moscow Intl. Travel and Tourism will still be held annually in March.
• A new Argentine edition of the biennial international food and beverage exhibition Alimentaria, held in Barcelona, Spain, will debut Oct. 30–Nov. 1 at the La Rural facility in Buenos Aires. Alimentaria Mercosur is the result of an agreement between Alimentaria Exhibitions, a joint venture between Reed Exhibitions and Fira Barcelona, and the Buenos Aires trade fair organization La Rural. Versions of Alimentaria are also held in Lisbon, Portugal, and Mexico City.
• GO India 2007 will take place at the Pragat Maidan Exhibition Center in New Delhi Oct. 31–Nov. 2. Dmg world media, which also manages the Global Petroleum Show, ADIPEC and Gastech, will organize GO India. Neil Wood, dmg's vice president for energy events, said the show would focus on the commercial and investment opportunities presented by India's growing demand for oil and gas.
• Sheet metal working show BLECHbusiness is set to debut Nov. 27–29 at the Expo XXI Warsaw Intl. Expo Centre in Poland. Stephen Brooks, managing director of the show's producer, Mack Brooks Exhibitions of St. Albans, U.K., said there's enormous demand in Central and Eastern Europe for an event geared exclusively toward the sheet metal working industry. Also, Poland is often seen as a gateway to the markets in Russia and Ukraine, he added.
• Deutsche Messe is planning its first event in India. Hannover Messe worldwide India will collocate three trade fairs — MDA India 2007, Industrial Automation India and CeMAT India 2007 — Dec. 4–7 at the Bangalore Intl. Exhibition Center. In early 2006, Deutsche Messe signed an agreement with the Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers' Assn. to market the new exhibition center in Bangalore. Worldwide India is one of the first results of that agreement. The shows will focus on industrial automation, logistics, material handling, warehouse technology, workshop equipment and packaging technology.