After an inevitable hiatus of two years, at the end of March there was a press conference in Vienna, with many international journalists on hand, to finally present spoga+gafa. The fair will be held ‘live’ from 19 to 21 June 2022, a new date that becomes structural in the calendar of Koelnmesse, in a trade fair facility that has been modernized in the meantime, as Oliver Frese, CFO of Koelnmesse, explains.
“We are convinced that physical engagement will remain a central factor of our services, also in the future, as demonstrated by the new pavilion 1 and the refurbished pavilions of the south wing.” Not just physical, however, because one of the most outstanding aspects of the fair is its digital counterpart: spoga+gafa 365 is a special pilot project, a ‘trade and order’ platform operating 365 days a year to strategically bring together networking, product databanks, people and orders.
In over 200,000 sqm of display space – with 1800 exhibitors from Europe, North America, Oceania, and even Asia, in spite of pessimistic forecasts – the new layout provides greater space and visibility for the furniture and décor industry.
Pavilions 3.1, 11.1-11.2 and 10.2 form ‘triangle of proximity’ to host Garden Living, an area on everything that can make a garden into an inhabited space, from furnishings to decoration to sports, and Garden Unique, with the outdoor furnishings proposals of premium international brands.
‘Home meets Spoga Gafa’ in pavilion 4.2, on the other hand, is a pop-up event created with the aim of combining indoor and outdoor offerings, while also representing one of the “Three Steps on the Road to imm cologne 2023,” along with Orgatec and imm cologne, scheduled for October 2022 and January 2023.
While the garden is becoming living space in the most authentic sense of the term, the question for the next few years will involve assessment of the effective sustainability of a garden and activities of indoor-outdoor gardening.
This topic becomes a true protagonist for this edition of spoga+gafa. Special events include the Gardena gardenaward & Gardena Start-up Village which on 19 June will honor the most sustainable gardening solutions, or the POS Green Solution Islands on green trends in small spaces, as well as the Boulevard of Ideas and Trendshow Outdoor Lifestyle, special spaces to grant visibility to single products, putting an accent on sustainability, urbanization, the silver society and individualization. The 35,000 visitors have a profile of exceptional quality, arriving from 65 different countries in spite of certain restrictions still in place due to the international situation of the pandemic.
Photo © courtesy spoga+gafa
