DRUPA POSTPONED: PacPrint to be pushed out

Global and regional print trade shows scheduled for next year will be impacted by the rescheduling of the giant drupa event, which will now take place in April, including PacPrint which will be moved from its slot at the end of May.

The big Australian trade show PacPrint, held once every four years in Melbourne, originally scheduled to take place in the year after drupa and before the now defunct Ipex, is virtually certain to move from its slot in May; it couldn't take place just a couple of weeks after drupa ends.

“The new timing for drupa means that many of our exhibitors will have virtually just landed back in Australia from Germany,” says Peter Harper, CEO of Visual Connections, the supplier association which organises both PacPrint and the co-located Visual Impact and Label & Packaging expos.

“In addition, one of PacPrint’s strongest advantages has always been its timing, coming roughly one year after drupa. This gives exhibitors the opportunity to show drupa-release technologies to the Australian market at PacPrint, giving the thousands of industry people who are not able to make it to Germany a look at the latest innovations as soon as possible,” Harper says.

Harper says the Visual Connections events team is working closely with the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre and local authorities in Victoria on possible options, but any decision on a date change would still be a while away.

“As you can imagine, we are far from the only event organisers who have been impacted by changes and restrictions introduced to combat the spread of the corona virus,” he points out.

The major wide format show Fespa Global is also scheduled for next May, set to open in Germany just three weeks after drupa. It too is unlikely to go ahead then, which is problematic for the organisers, who have already postponed Fespa Global 2020, with new date yet to be confirmed. A move to September for the 2021 show is a possible scenario.

The global trade show calendar essentially revolves around drupa, its change of date has thrown that calendar into chaos. In addition to the multi-vendor events, shows like Hunkeler InnovationDays, currently scheduled 22-25 February will either be postponed or cancelled, as will events from the likes of Xeikon with its Cafe Week, and Canon with its Poing Week, also both scheduled to take place in early 2021.