More than 310 trade fairs in Germany in 2025
Three demands from the trade fair industry of the new federal government
Growth in all industry’s key figures in 2024 despite economic downturn
Berlin, 7 January 2025 | Germany's 70 or so trade fair venues will kick off the new trade fair year this Tuesday. PSI, the leading European trade fair for the promotional products industry, will kick things off in Düsseldorf for the length of three days. A dozen trade fairs will then take place in the middle of the month. In total, more than 310 trade fairs are planned in Germany this year, including more than a dozen new events on topics such as care, energy and construction.
The total duration of all trade fairs adds up to a trade fair year 2025 lasting 1,107 days. March will be the strongest trade fair month with 53 trade fairs, while July will be much quieter with only one event. The busiest trade fair day of the year will be 8 November, when 16 trade fairs will run simultaneously throughout Germany. Munich and Nuremberg will be the busiest in 2025 - with 28 trade fairs each, followed by Stuttgart with 24.
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Philip Harting, Chairman of the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry AUMA:
"The German trade fair industry is defying the economic slack in Germany. We owe this to the loyal international audience of exhibitors and visitors. We are also increasingly feeling the restraint of German companies because their economic prospects here in Germany are bleak. The German trade fair industry is calling fora new German government to quickly provide strong economic policy stimuli for the exhibiting industry. This includes the expansion of the renowned foreign trade fair programme or the Young Innovators start-up trade fair programme. Long overdue is the digitalisation of visa procedures for our foreign guests and exhibitors, which are crucial for our success as the number one trade fair venue in the world. We also expect the reporting obligations for our companies to be minimised in terms of bureaucracy."
The first balance sheet for the 2024 trade fair year shows growth in all industry’s key figures. Compared to the respective previous events, an average of nine per cent more visitors (11.7 million), ten per cent more exhibiting companies (205,000) and seven per cent more stand space (7.1 million square metres) were counted at the 322 trade fairs last year. The increase is remarkable because 50 trade fairs were affected by strikes in local, long-distance and air traffic in the particularly busy first quarter of 2024. Many trade fair visitors were unable to travel at all or had to cut their trade fair visit short. According to AUMA projections, a plus of up to 250,000 people would have visited trade fairs.
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12 remarkable trade fairs 2025:
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17 to 26 January, Berlin: the International Green Week will become formidably 99 years old. It takes place annually at the exhibition centre beneath the Berlin Radio Tower. The ten-day duration of the trade fair is also remarkable. The trade fair is a meeting place for the food and luxury food industry, agriculture, forestry and fisheries as well as for specialists in livestock farming, veterinary medicine, horticulture and landscaping. Most recently, around 306,000 trade and private visitors and more than 1,400 exhibiting companies attended.
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12 to 14 February, Dortmund: One of the new events of the year is a trade fair for innovative building shells, Inolope Expo. This event organised by Messe Dortmund is aimed at trade visitors. Four industry associations are supporting the trade fair project as partners. In the future, Inolope Expo will take place every two years.
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14 to 18 March, Hamburg: The first international trade fair for the hotel, catering, bakery and confectionery industries, Internorga, was held in Hamburg back in 1921. Every year, including this year, experts from the catering, shopdesign, food and luxury food sectors meet in the Hanseatic city for five days. The trade fair is accompanied by international congresses, the industry day for communal catering and several industry competitions.
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7 to 13 April, Munich: The world's largest trade fair, the construction machinery and mining trade fair Bauma, will again take place at its traditional timeslot in the trade fair calendar: in 2022 – after the Corona pandemic – it took place in October because of the huge demand from the construction industry., Now it will take place in spring again - as it has every three years since 1954. Last time, almost half a million visitors and more than 3,200 exhibiting companies came together on around 400,000 square metres of rented hall space and outdoor area. Incidentally, contrary to the trend that odd-numbered years tend to have fewer events, this year will be a particularly strong year for Messe München.
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26 to 30 May, Hanover: Ligna, the world's leading trade fair for the woodworking and wood processing industry, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The trade fair has been held every two years since 1975. Ligna promises more than 700 product premieres. Incidentally, almost 60 per cent of trade visitors recently came from abroad..
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25 to 26 June, Wiesbaden: The trade fair Parking offers a platform for pioneering solutions in stationary traffic, and as the name implies i.e. car parking. It takes place every two years. The organiser is Mesago, a subsidiary of Messe Frankfurt, based in Stuttgart. Mesago organises guest events at trade fair venues in Germany and abroad, such as the SPS International Trade Fair for Industrial Automation in Nuremberg (25 to 27 November).
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26 to 28 July, Hamburg: This trade fair in July takes place twice a year. The regional order days Nordstil, a guest event organised by Messe Frankfurt at Messe Hamburg, showcases trends from the home and lifestyle sectors. In summer and right at the beginning of the year, exhibiting companies, designers and manufacturers can present their goods, which only trade visitors can order on site.
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29 August to 7 September, Düsseldorf: Alongside the Gamescom computer games fair in Cologne (20 to 24 August), the Caravan Salon opens the shorter second half of the trade fair year. Since 1989, the Salon has been attracting trade and private visitors who want to find out more about touring cars, utility vehicles, motorbikes, caravans and related accessories. Incidentally, it was one of the few trade fairs that was able to take place in Germany during the Corona years between all the lockdowns and associated trade fair bans..
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15 to 19 September, Essen: The world's leading trade fair for joining, cutting and coating, Schweissen & Schneiden, only takes place every four years. The rhythm indicates the innovation cycle of the industry. Schweissen & Schneiden has been a classic in Messe Essen's programme since 1952. It is aimed exclusively at trade visitors from the metalworking, metal processing and welding technology sectors. More than 1,000 exhibiting companies, 50,000 trade visitors and, believe it or not, 2.5 billion euros in investment volume from trade fair visitors are expected.
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14 to 17 October, Nuremberg: Interlift, the International Trade Fair for Lifts, Components and Accessories, will be held at NürnbergMesse for the first time. One year before the trade fair opens, more exhibition space has been booked than at the last Interlift, which was still held at Messe Augsburg, according to trade fair organiser AFAG. Interlift aims to grow significantly with the move. The trade fair is organised by the Association for Lift Technology.
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12 to 14 November, Karlsruhe: Klimahouse Germany, a trade fair for sustainable building, is a new addition to the calendar. The company Hinte Expo & Conference is coming to the exhibition centre in Karlsruhe as guest organiser. In future, the trade fair will be held once a year and is aimed at both private individuals and professionals.
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4 to 7 December, Cologne: The International Motorcycle, Scooter and E-Bike Trade Fair Intermot marks the end of the year. By choosing this date, Koelnmesse wants to offer the opportunity to prepare specifically for the next season between the end and start of the season.
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Image material
Philip Harting, Chairman of AUMA - Copyright: AUMA / Christian Kruppa
Internorga - International Trade Fair for the Hotel, Catering, Bakery and Confectionery Trades in Hamburg - © Hamburg Messe und Congress/Rene Zieger
bauma- the world's largest trade fair for construction machinery and mining in Munich - © Messe München GmbH/Frommel fotodesign
AUMA is the Association of the German Trade Fair Industry. Acting both internationally and nationally, it represents the interests of all large and medium-sized exhibition companies in Germany, international event organisers in Germany and the associations that represent exhibitors, service companies and trade fair visitors.
Trade fairs in Germany secure up to 230,000 jobs. With no fewer than 70 exhibition venues between the North Sea and Lake Constance, Germany is truly unique as a trade fair-hosting country. Two thirds of all leading global economy trade fairs take place right here in Germany. At peak times, international, national and regional trade fairs in Germany attract more than 235,000 exhibiting companies and 16 million visitors. On average, 60 per cent of exhibiting companies and 35 per cent of specialist visitors to all leading trade fairs travel from abroad.
