FESPA to return to Germany for May 2015 event in Cologne

FESPA will return to Germany in 2015, staging its flagship ‘screen-plus-digital-plus textile’ exhibition at the Cologne exhibition centre (Koelnmesse) from Monday 18th to Friday 22nd May 2015.  FESPA 2015 will occupy a minimum of three of the exhibition centre’s new pillar-less halls.

Launching the show to exhibitors this week, FESPA has ambitions to host over 700 exhibiting suppliers from screen, textile and digital print in Cologne and expects the show to be the largest in FESPA history.  “The decision to host FESPA in Cologne next year - following this year’s FESPA Digital 2014 event in Munich - reflects the significance of our visitor audience from northern and central Europe, and the DACH region in particular,” explains FESPA CEO Neil Felton. “As Germany’s fourth city, Cologne offers us an excellent contemporary exhibition venue in a city which is easily accessible by road, rail and air from many of Europe’s key economic areas.”

The Rhineland is one of northern Europe’s major industrial centres, with thriving manufacturing, media and creative industries clustered in its urban centres, and a population of over ten million in the Rhein-Ruhr Metropolitan Area.  Koelnmesse stages approximately 75 international exhibitions and 2000 conferences with over a third of a million visitors.

Cologne is served by Köln-Bonn and Düsseldorf airports, with direct routes to hundreds of world cities, putting the city within two hours’ flying time of most European capitals. ICE train routes also bring visitors into the centre of Cologne from many other German and European cities in a few hours.

Felton continues, “We have scheduled the 2015 exhibition to fall within the working week, responding to feedback from our exhibitors who felt this better reflected the needs of the event’s B2B audience, while the move to late May is also popular.”

Cologne offers visitors to FESPA access to hundreds of hotels, and a first-class visitor experience, with a broad range of restaurants, bars and cultural experiences to suit all tastes and budgets.