Yes, the show must go on. Elmia Wood 2022 was a good show. Most things you could expect were there: Small machines, large machines, ATV:s, log loaders, log trailers, wood splitters, events, and much more. The exhibitors I spoke to, mainly companies aiming for professional forest contractors, were satisfied. Some of the 26 000 visitors, were not …
The show must go on
The name of the show was, however, a bit confusing. “Elmia Wood” is supposed to be the no 1 show for forest machinery that attracts visitors and exhibitors from all over the World. This year’s show was more like Elmia Wood’s little sister, the Scandinavian show “SkogsElmia” which normally occurs between the large Elmia Wood shows on the same fairgrounds. So, it’s understandable that those who were looking forward to a “real” Elmia Wood were disappointed. A mistake that the Elmia team is aware of and will not repeat.
On the other hand, anyone who would have bothered to have a look at the exhibitor’s list that had been displayed on the Elmia Wood site a long time before the show would have seen who were there and who were not.
The next Elmia Wood show is announced for the early summer of 2025. That gives Elmia time to discuss with the major machine manufacturers about a comeback. But before that, the machine suppliers will do their own show, the Swedish Forestry Expo, next year on a horse racetrack near Stockholm.
Still – it was good
The confusion was obvious when I talked to fellow reporters and other fair organizers. Some used words like “disaster” or “it’s over…”, etc. Some others raised the show to the skies. My impression, walking around the trail listening to people, was that it was a good show.
The trail was crowded, the visitors seemed happy, and so did the exhibitors I spoke to. The exhibitors I spoke to were there to meet what the Swedes call “large scale” customers. That is contractors with large, professional machines. One of them wasn’t too happy after the first day but changed his mind after the second day. All that I spoke to agreed that there were enough contractors and potential customers to make it a good show for them. But they also confirmed that there were visitors that had missed the fact that the major machine manufacturers were not there and therefore were disappointed.
The show will go on
To sum it up, it was a good show. But as mentioned above, it should have been called by the local name “SkogsElmia”. The Elmia-crew now has the challenge to get it all together again by 2025. I think they’ll make it …
As for this year’s show, that will go on as well here at nordicwoodjournal.com with some upcoming articles about what was to be seen at the show. Stay tuned!
Photos: Per Jonsson
