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The shows may go on – forestry shows in turmoil

Last year was the year when almost all forestry shows were postponed to 2021, creating a complicated situation for the shows that were originally planned for 2021. Now we are in 2021, and some shows have already moved to 2022, like the former No 1 Elmia Wood. What will happen to the other ones? Source: Forestry.com

The German show KWF Tagung/KWF Expo was planned for July 2020 but postponed to the same time 2021. It is, so far, the only show that has declared that it will go ahead this year.

Ligna 2021, in Hannover Germany, was originally planned for May 2021. It was postponed to 27 September to 1 October 2021. It is unclear what will happen to the forestry part of the show.

Ligna is mainly a trade fair for sawmill and woodworking machinery, the largest in the world in this business. The forestry part has been a quite small, but important, outdoor activity of the fair.

For suppliers of forestry equipment, the Ligna show is important as it attracts industry visitors, decision makers that decide about investments both for industry and forestry. This exclusive group rarely visit the pure forestry shows like Elmia Wood, KWF Expo or the Interforst.

As KWF was postponed to this year it seems that most forestry exhibitors will choose to participate at KWF only, and not at Ligna. That can change before September.

Elmia Wood and the new show Swedish Forestry Expo were both planned for spring 2021 but postponed to 2022. New dates for Elmia Wood will be 2-4 June and for Swedish Forestry Expo 28-30 April 2022.

According to their homepage, Forexpo in France will go ahead on their new dates 16-18 June 2021. The location is Mimizan south of Bordeaux.

As mentioned above, the KWF show will go ahead on the new dates 30 June 3 July 2021 with some changes due to Covid -19. The congress will take place the week before on the Internet.

No large halls will be used this time. Instead, the exhibitors that normally have their stands in the halls will have small stands along the trails. The trails themselves will be made wider, and the distance between the stands will be increased to make it easier for everyone present to keep safe distances.

The DEMO International was planned for September 2020 in Canada but postponed until 16-18 September 2021. The venue will be the same, Ottawa/Gatineau.