Spoga+Gafa starts with a new daily schedule

Under this year's motto “Design Gardens”, Spoga+Gafa opened yesterday in Cologne for the first time with a new day sequence. Even in the first few hours of the trade fair, the organisers were satisfied with the day of the event: higher visitor numbers and more international visitors were attracted to the halls of the Cologne trade fairs by the start on Tuesday - compared to Sunday as the first day of the trade fair a year ago. The feedback from exhibitors on the first day of the leading trade fair was also positive: They had wished for more visitors in some places, but the discussions were good everywhere. ‘Quality instead of quantity’ was the general motto here, as Exhibition Director Claudia Maurer emphasised.

Oliver Frese, Chief Operating Officer of Koelnmesse, and Sebastian Rosito, Business Unit Director for Koelnmesse, also honoured long-standing exhibitors at Spoga+Gafa during the first day of the fair. The following were honoured for 25 trade fair participations: Biohort (Austria), Garden Consulting & Investment (Belgium), Stern GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), Ter Steege (Netherlands) and Aras Metal (Turkey). AB Hörby Bruch (Sweden) and Verlag Eugen Ulmer (Germany) were recognised for 30 participations. Floragard (Germany) and Dähne Verlag, publisher of the diy trade magazine, received awards for 40 participations. Hartmann Outdoor Products received an award for 60 participations.

Another change to the order of days for the next edition of the trade fair has already been announced in advance: in 2026, Spoga+Gafa will take place from Monday to Wednesday. The organisers also announced further innovations: The trade fair must constantly reinvent itself, said Frese during the award ceremony. Further information on the new trade fair structure will follow in the further course of the year.