After close consultation with exhibitors and partners, the world’s leading trade fair for printing technologies “Drupa” has had to be cancelled for 2021 due to the effects of the corona pandemic. The next event will take place from May 28 to June 7, 2024, as scheduled. Until then, the organizers are bridging the time window with “virtual.drupa”, a four-day digital event. The date of “virtual.drupa” falls within the period originally planned for “Drupa”: April 20 to 23, 2021.

“The pandemic has caused great uncertainty among exhibitors and visitors with regard to participation in ‘Drupa’ 2021. Travel restrictions and budget pressure have increasingly aggravated the situation in the print industry,” explains Erhard Wienkamp, COO of Messe Düsseldorf. “We have made this decision together with our partners who support this step. This was preceded by a detailed process of weighing up the situation, taking into account the current framework conditions and the needs of the industry.

Sabine Geldermann, Project Director Print Technologies, adds: “Our primary goal remains to support the industry with all the means at our disposal to stay in contact with each other at national and international level, to further strengthen their network and generate leads. To this end, there will be an intermediary event from 20 to 23 April, which will give our exhibitors and visitors an additional sales channel and planning security”.

Claus Bolza-Schünemann, CEO of König und Bauer and drupa President, welcomes this approach: “A virtual event is exactly the right format in these times. Participating in “drupa” under the familiar parameters was simply too risky for many exhibitors against the backdrop of declining exports and sales, as well as considerable travel restrictions – even for visitors. The new digital forum, whose reliable pillar is a virtual platform, offers the opportunity to maintain the valuable exchange within the industry until 2024″.

The drupa preview platform launched in October has already given a preview of what “virtual.drupa” will look like: Companies will have the opportunity here to present themselves virtually and showcase their innovations; new contacts can be made and existing contacts maintained via matchmaking; the conference program of the five “drupa” hotspots will provide important impulses and, thanks to its agenda setting, ensure knowledge transfer online. International speakers from vertical markets will present successful brand stories on Future Technologies in the Cube, for example, and point the way to the future of the industry with their speeches.

“Our members tell us that there is still a great need for trade fairs that drive their business forward. The value and radiance of “Drupa” is unbroken. The decision to suspend it in 2021 is solely due to the pandemic situation,” emphasizes Dr. Markus Heering, Managing Director of the VDMA’s Printing and Paper Technology Association. “In the long term, it is important for all of us to maintain “Drupa” as an international platform in Europe that reflects the industry in all its diversity. 200 years of expertise are rooted in Europe and must continue to exist. However, as an intermediate solution until 2024, we welcome the introduction of the new digital platform”.

The print industry continues to stand clearly behind its world-leading trade show, whose top international reach is unbroken. As a platform that calls for an open and competitive market comparison, it is a driver for innovations, from which exhibitors and visitors alike benefit. Through direct contact, technology trends and innovations can be experienced and compared and new synergies discovered. Its impetus, sales strength, unique atmosphere, comprehensive industry exchange and intensive network maintenance are aspects that can only be depicted to a limited extent via online formats. With “virtual.drupa” and the annual “Print & Digital Convention” in Düsseldorf, which is held in cooperation with the Fachverband Medienproduktion e.V. (fmp), the trade show is therefore aiming to meet this demand until it returns in 2024 as a presence format with new, valuable parameters and hybrid offerings.

Wienkamp concludes: “Today’s decision to cancel “Drupa” 2021 and offer a different format is an event- and industry-specific decision. For all other Messe Düsseldorf events, we are in close contact with the authorities and partners of the respective trade fairs, with whom we will assess the situation in good time and make responsible decisions”.