After two years of waiting for the Covid-19 pandemic to come under control, 2022 became the year of comebacks for the forestry fair/show business. And what a year it has been for forestry people. Show after show, all summer. Like a long Christmas Evening for loggers, but who could visit them all?
The summer of forestry shows
It seems that the organizers of the postponed shows forgot that there were shows scheduled for 2022 that also wanted to make a mark. E.g., Elmia Wood, which was moved from 2021 to 2022, now for the first time clashed with the Interforst which was scheduled for 2022. They both lost a great number of visitors and exhibitors this time.
Also, DLG Waldtage in Germany was moved from 2021 to 2022. But they managed to grow in terms of visitor numbers. An impressive achievement considering the hard post-covid times.
Photo: DLG Waldtage
The Metko show in Finland, which I visited and reported on in quite a few articles, also lost some visitors and exhibitors this year even though they were originally scheduled for this year.
APF – the last one in 2022(?)
But it isn’t over yet. The APF show in England just closed the gates after this year’s edition. It started last Thursday, and according to the show’s Facebook page the first day was “fantastic”.
Back to normal
So, now we are waiting for the forestry show season of 2023. Most of the shows that had to change years due to covid-19 seem to go back to their normal years from now on. The next Elmia Wood will take place in 2025 and so will DLG Waldtage. The German KWF Tagung, which was scheduled for 2020 and at first, postponed to 2021 and then canceled, decided to skip ahead to 2024, the next planned date. The order appears to be restored. With one exception …
The French shows, Euroforest and Forexpo, that until now took place in the even years, will stay in the uneven years after the pandemic. Next in line is Euroforest that tale place in June 2023, making them probably the “heaviest” forestry show in Europe, maybe in the World, in 2023.
