Fespa-lite to run next month

At the fourth time of asking the global wide format show Fespa is on course to open in Amsterdam next month, 12-15 October, but with a Euro-centric focus, and strict Covid protocols.

Aussie and Kiwi printers are banned from leaving the country, so the normally large antipodean contingent will be missing. Also missing will be some of the bigger names among the traditional exhibitors from outside Europe, such as US based operations HP and EFI, along with Japanese outfits Epson, Fujifilm and Screen (Inca).

However the show is set to go on, with Amsterdam the location, and the Dutch government just loosening travel restrictions into the country making it accessible to virtually anyone who wants to go.

The expo experience will be different, with Covid protocols being followed in the halls. Printers attending will have to prove they are Covid free, by showing they are either double vaccinated or have a negative test certificate. Masks will be compulsory at all times, the aisles will be widened to enable social distancing. There will also be a lanyard traffic light system, which will indicate preference regarding physical contact.

Some 300 exhibitors, about 75 per cent of those at the last event, are taking part. So far half of the 32,000sqm has been booked, with companies including Agfa, Brother, Canon, Durst, Kornit, Mimaki and Roland DG taking space. It remains to be seen how many printers will want to put themselves thorugh the experience.

Fespa Global 2022 – set for Berlin next May – will be the first opportunity for local printers to go to a wide format show, and many have already indicated they will be there. The Covid protocols are likely to be looser by then.