Photokina 2020 cancelled due to coronavirus, next Photokina to be held in May 2022
posted Wednesday, March 18, 2020 at 3:34 PM EDT
In what's likely not an all-too-unexpected turn of events, the bi-annual Photokina tradeshow set to take place in May in Cologne, Germany has now been cancelled due to health concerns surrounding the growing COVID-19 pandemic.
The popular international trade fair was scheduled to take place between May 27-30, but now Koelnmesse GmbH, the Photokina tradeshow organizers, have decided to cancel all events at the Koelnmesse exhibition hall until the end of June 2020. In addition to canceling Photokina 2020, the Imaging Innovation Conference, which was set to have its premiere this year, will also be cancelled.
The cancellation of Photokina 2020 follows an agreement between the German federal government and governments of the German states just a few days ago, which recommended against holding large trade fairs and exhibitions as part of a strategy for combatting the spread of the coronavirus.
"It goes without saying that [Photo Industry Association] completely stands behind the decision taken by Koelnmesse to cancel Photokina 2020," said Kai Hillebrandt, Chairman of the Photo Industry Association. "The health of exhibitors and visitors is top priority at the moment. As the conceptual sponsor of Photokina, we will do our utmost to assist the Koelnmesse with the planning of the next edition of Photokina."
Given the earlier cancellations of the CP+ tradeshow in Japan as well as other large tradeshow events such as Mobile World Congress in Barcelona due to the growing coronavirus outbreak, this latest cancelation isn't a surprise, but certainly another disppointment for photo fans around the world. The Photokina show itself was on rather shaky ground to begin with, as a number of camera manufacturers including Nikon, Olympus and even the local German titan Leica, had previously decided not to participate in this year's tradeshow. Now with the next Photokina set to take place in two year's time, it's unknown just what the next Photokina will look like. Will it be the same massive, multi-hall tradeshow as in year's past, or a smaller, more local-focused event?
The read the full press release, click here.