Photokina postponed to May 2020

One of the exhibition halls at Photokina 2018. (Source: Koelnmesse.)

The decision to postpone the start of the announced annual cycle by one year is intended to give all participants the opportunity to further develop the new concept for Photokina. The organisers hope ‘to tap into new target groups among exhibitors and visitors in order to heighten the status of the trade fair as a global platform for the photography and imaging industry’. The 2020 exhibition and trade show will, therefore, take place between Wednesday 27 May and Saturday 30 May, 2020.

A statement from the organisers says: “Photokina 2018 clearly exceeded our already optimistic expectations, with groundbreaking innovations and 180,000 visitors from 127 countries. As a result, we set the bar very high for the next event. It is therefore unlikely that, in May 2019 after just over seven months, we will once again be able to create the same enthusiastic atmosphere that characterised Photokina 2018. This is why we have decided to start the planned annual cycle in 2020.”

On the surface, this decision appears logical, given the short time since Photokina 2018 and the up-coming CES, CP+ and NAB shows between the beginning of 2019 and April in that year. However, since these three shows are held annually, the first half of 2020 is shaping up to be a show-packed period of time. It will be interesting to see how equipment manufacturers manage to create enough new products and updates to draw visitors to even two of the four scheduled shows. The timing also places Photokina 2020 just before the Tokyo Olympics, which will be held in July and August of that year. Japanese camera manufacturers will doubtless have plenty of professional gear on show before and during that event.