drupa postponed to April 2021

drupa postponed to April 2021

The drupa, planned from June 16 to 26, 2020 in in Düsseldorf, Germany, will be postponed to April 20 to 30, 2021. According to a press release, Messe Düsseldorf is thus following the recommendation of the German government’to take the principles of the Robert Koch Institute into account when assessing the risk of major events. Based on this recommendation and the recent significant increase in the number of people infected with the new corona virus in Europe, the situation was reassessed by the organizers.

The decision of the City of Düsseldorf, in which large events with more than 1,000 participants present at the same time are generally prohibited.

“The decision was taken in close consultation with our advisory boards and sponsoring associations,” said Werner M. Dornscheidt, Chairman of the Board of Management of Messe Düsseldorf GmbH. It also reflected the wishes of individual industries: “As their partner, we are currently doing everything in our power to reduce the economic losses suffered by our exhibitors”.

“A postponement of drupa was unavoidable after the latest developments”, added drupa president Claus Bolza-Schünemann. ”The decision is therefore right and responsible. Many exhibitors start their logistical preparations in mid-March – today’s announcement of the postponement enables all those affected to react now, reschedule and prepare for the event date in April 2021. The excitement for ’embrace the future’ remains undiminished – also in 2021”.

hIdustry associations also welcome the announcement: “drupa is the most important meeting place for the international printing industry,” said Dr. Markus Heering, Managing Director of the Printing and Paper Technology Trade Association of the VDMA. “True to the motto ’embrace the future’, it is characteriszd by personal, international contact and live product presentations. The risk of infection would simply be too high at present. We therefore support the decision to postpone the event and look forward to the date next year.”