Gafa every two yeras in future as well  

According to an announcement made by Koelnmesse, from this year on Gafa will be held only every two years i.e. not again till 2006 after 2004. Spoga, which has up to the present always been staged in parallel, will still open for business every year in future, so that Gafa exhibitors will also have a chance to be represented in Cologne in the late summer. The September dates are being adhered to, and the Sunday to Tuesday sequence of show days as well. Moreover, both events will retain their trade fair character.These changes have come about at the request of the industry itself. It was in particular the exhibitors from the gardening technology side who emphasised their preference for a two-yearly appearance at the fair. They include manufacturers of motorised garden equipment for semi-professional to professional users, companies involved with irrigation techniques and suppliers from the market segment concentrating on wood for the garden.Spoga, which will continue to be held annually under the modified title of “Spoga – International Fair for Sports, Camping and Lifestyle in the Garden”, will from 2005 on offer all interested Gafa suppliers of lifestyle-type products, ranging from ambience through to plants and on to decorative water features, the opportunity to present their companies and products in Cologne on an annual basis.Today’s trade fair duo already overlaps quite clearly in the matter of target groups. The expansion of the Spoga programme in the Lifestyle in the Garden segment homes in on this situation and so enables companies in the segment to make an annual appearance at the fair. Such companies include the categories of furnishings and decorating, plants and biochemical products, with floristry and pets as well.Gafa should from 2006 on have the additional attraction of a new exhibition site, for which new facilities are being planned out of doors. There will then be generous outdoor areas available to industry and commerce for displaying their products in the open, though still in the direct vicinity of the fair halls. The next event will be staged in the traditional manner. Koelnmesse expects more than 2 400 suppliers at the Gafa and Spoga events, including leading brand names from all over the world, between 5 and 7 September 2004.