Major international event in Nuremberg: Spielwarenmesse set for early February

• Majority in the industry back the trade fair going ahead
• Planning certainty for exhibitors, trade visitors and service providers
• Robust safety and hygiene concept in place

An entire toy industry is currently looking to the opening event of the year: the Spielwarenmesse. The majority of exhibitors and visitors are keen to meet up in person for the event. Decisions recently taken by the Bavarian government have reaffirmed that the event can go ahead safely at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre from 2 to 6 February 2022. In compliance with these regulations, the organiser, namely Spielwarenmesse eG, will best prepare to meet the express wish for a real trade fair experience.

There is great eagerness to take part in the trade fair. Accordingly, the majority of exhibitors and trade visitors have expressly backed the Spielwarenmesse going ahead, as evidenced by a survey conducted amongst the companies this week. This survey was prompted by the increasing number of companies asking for information on the current situation in Germany due to the pandemic and needing to know if they could safely plan their participation in the trade fair. The latter is important to exhibitors and specialist retailers as well as stand constructors and other service providers.

“Thanks to the latest decisions taken by the Bavarian government and the improving pandemic situation in Bavaria, we can continue as planned with our preparations for the trade fair”, said Christian Ulrich, Spokesperson for the Executive Board of Spielwarenmesse eG. The rules continue to allow events and focus on boosters rather than testing. 15 days after having received a third vaccination, participants will no longer be required to get tested if the event is still subject to 2G+ requirements in February – which otherwise means the organisers would only be able to grant access to those who were previously considered fully vaccinated or recently recovered and can produce evidence of a recent negative antigen test. Incidence rates are also heading in the right direction and there are no more hotspots in Bavaria.

Other trade fairs in Germany have successfully managed a relaunch since the start of the pandemic – thereby proving that they can be held successfully under the restrictions in place. For the Spielwarenmesse, too, a robust safety and hygiene concept has been developed in close consultation with the health authorities and NürnbergMesse (www.spielwarenmesse.de/en/hygiene). The exhibition centre in Nuremberg is ideal given the sheer scale of the halls and multiple air changes per hour. There will also be testing capacity at the venue.

“The intensive and constructive discussions with industry representatives over recent days prove just how highly the Spielwarenmesse is valued as a networking and order platform. We will do everything we can to give them what they have asked for – a real trade fair experience in safe conditions”, emphasised Christian Ulrich. Participants can expect the usual comprehensive industry overview – from a varied product offering and inspiring trends through to valuable insights into the toy world that they can put to best use in their daily business.