Heimtextil, the international fabric fair based in Frankfurt, Germany, has been canceled. In a notice sent out this morning, Messe Frankfurt, the organization that puts on the event, pointed to an “extreme escalation of the pandemic situation in Germany,” as well as guidance from local authorities. According to the release, the event may be rescheduled for June 2022 and reconfigured to run alongside two other trade shows, Techtextil and Texprocess.
Despite the cancellation of Heimtextil, Messe Frankfurt says that Ambiente, the consumer goods fair held in the same venue, is planned to remain on schedule for February.
As the winter cold sets in, COVID cases are spiking in Europe. The EU has overtaken the U.S. in contagion rates in recent months, with a daily infection rate of 500 per million inhabitants (as opposed to roughly 290 per million in America). Germany and Austria have been hit particularly hard, and another German textile fair set to take place in Hanover in January, Domotex, was called off last month.
The recent rise of the omicron variant has only elevated the levels of concern. However, at least for now, the cancellation of Heimtextil has not set off a chain reaction. In Germany, a representative for the international furniture and interiors fair IMM Cologne says that the January event is still a go at the moment.
“[IMM Cologne fair organizer] Koelnmesse wants to continue to hold its spring events, but of course, we are monitoring further events very closely and are in close contact with our partner associations and exhibitors,” the representative told Business of Home. “So far, the number of registrations for the spring trade fairs has been good. Our autumn trade fairs have already proven that trade fairs are possible again, even on an international level.”
Meanwhile, in Paris, Maison&Objet—set to start January 20—is planning to go on too. “We’ve been monitoring the situation closely in Europe as well, and for now, we’re moving ahead with our programming,” a representative of the design fair tells BOH. “We know we’ll need to communicate [with] and support the visitors and exhibitors as much as possible on potential new travel restrictions such as testing deadlines, but the team is committed to organizing a much-awaited trade show.”
Homepage photo: The Trend Space at the 2020 Heimtextil fair | Courtesy of Heimtextil
