News

Spielwarenmesse eG has canceled Spielwarenmesse 2022 in Nuremberg. The toy industry has been looking forward to the event, which was to be held in February. The rapid growth of the Omicron variant in recent days, however, and the resultant increasing number of cancellations to stands, has left the organizer, Spielwarenmesse eG, with no alternative but to cancel. As an alternative, exhibitors, specialist retailers and media representatives can meet up on the Spielwarenmesse Digital platform.

“We have fought hard to be able to hold the live event and we received strong support initially from toy markets worldwide,” says Christian Ulrich, spokesperson of the Executive Board at Spielwarenmesse eG. A large number of suppliers without international distribution networks appealed to the organizers even in December to continue with the fair, which is so important to international business.

In the last few days, conditions have been deteriorating. Due to the rapid growth of the Omicron variant, the situation with the pandemic is now markedly different. In response to this a large number of exhibitors, out of concern for the health of their teams, cancelled their stands. The Spielwarenmesse, the leading global industry event, thus no longer looked capable of providing its customary broad overview of the international toy market. A further complication was that it was no longer possible to plan ahead with any certainty because it was possible at any time that the event could be cancelled by the authorities.

“We regret having to make this decision and are grateful to everyone who remained committed to a physical trade fair to the very end,” commented Ulrich. A multifunctional platform is available both for exhibitors and for visitors: thanks to Spielwarenmesse Digital, they still have networking opportunities and the facility to discover the latest trends, within the original timetable of the trade fair.