More in-person trade fairs canceled or postponed due to coronavirus in the first semester

The current pandemic situation makes it impossible to reliably plan for upcoming international in-person trade fairs in the first semester: therefore, having consulted closely with its customers and partners, Messe München is canceling f.re.e 2021 and INHORGENTA MUNICH 2021. LASER World of PHOTONICS 2021 will be postponed to 2022.

Messe München is ensuring that it responds early to the uncertainties that still exist due to the pandemic: in detailed consultation with advisory boards, exhibitors and partners, the company has decided to cancel INHORGENTA MUNICH 2021, Europe’s leading platform for jewelry, timepieces and gemstones (April 15 to 19), as well as the travel and leisure trade fair f.re.e 2021 (April 21 to 25). MÜNCHNER AUTO TAGE, scheduled to take place alongside f.re.e, will also be canceled for 2021. These events are all normally held annually.

Klaus Dittrich, Chairman and CEO of Messe München, on the decisions: “We are very sorry to have to announce the cancellations. Our aim is to ensure that we provide our customers with successful events. However, the current pandemic means that it is impossible to make plans with any degree of certainty as there is currently nothing to suggest that the ban on holding events will be lifted any time soon. In addition, due to travel restrictions, we cannot ensure that our in-person trade fairs are truly international events, something which all our participants require and which we expect from a successful event.”

In order to guarantee early on that its customers have the planning security required to ensure the event’s success, the company is also postponing LASER World of PHOTONICS 2021, the world’s leading trade fair for photonic components, systems and applications, to April 26 to 29, 2022.

Industry events are taking place online

Whilst the biannual trade fair is getting new dates, the scientific World of Photonics Congress will be held on the original dates, from June 20 to 24, 2021, as an online event.

The timepiece and jewelry industry’s growing need for guidance, networking and knowledge transfer is being met by the digital INHORGENTA TRENDFACTORY. The online conference format will be continued in the fall of 2021. A specific date is yet to be announced.

automatica sprint: new event format in June

automatica sprint, the compact independent “thoroughbred daughter” of automatica, will take place in June. The new format will reduce the amount of work required in the run-up to the trade fair, thus ensuring the necessary flexibility required in terms of planning in these coronavirus times. automatica sprint has been designed as both an in-person and a digital event, thus guaranteeing the feasibility of the new format no matter what happens.