Whether buying, browsing, being inspired, educated or just staying connected to your business community, trade exhibitions have a strong role to play for many different reasons.
Showtime Worldwide is a special publication, published by Max Publishing (owners of Progressive Greetings) that details the dates and locations of the trade exhibitions in the greeting card, gift, homewares, party and affiliated sectors for the coming year, covering shows in the UK and overseas.
In addition to physical copies which have now been published Showtime Worldwide is also available online by clicking here
As Sue Marks, editor of Showtime Worldwide points out: “With retailers – both big and small – always on the look-out to find new products to help them refresh and diversify their offering to customers, trade shows continue to be a mainstay of the gift, greetings, homewares and affiliated industries.”
With the start of the year providing a prime launch time for suppliers and retailers, the show calendar is peppered with events. In the UK alone, today (9 January) is the last day of the East Anglia Gift and Toy Fair (in Norwich), tomorrow is the last day of the Cornish Venture event down in Newquay, with Top Drawer marking the UK’s first major gift show of the year when it opens on Sunday (14-16 January) at London’s Olympia. On the same day as Top Drawer, up in Yorkshire the Harrogate Christmas and Gift Fair opens for trade (14-17 January) while those down in the South West, can make a trip to Giving and Living (14-17 January, Exeter) with Scottish retailers receiving their treat with the Scotland Trade Fair taking place 21-23 in Glasgow.
The end of the month is play time with the Toy Fair taking place at London’s Olympia (23-25 January) with February kicking off with Asian Expo and Premium Fair also taking up residence at London’s Olympia (1-3 February) before the UK’s largest trade show, the Spring Fair of course, opens its doors at the NEC (4-8 February, though the volume hall opens a day earlier).
Meanwhile, further afield, it will all be happening in the Big Apple with the NY Now Winter show running 3-7 February
So, get your diaries out and get planning!
