Photo: Woodworking
Starting in 2027, LIGNA will change its dates to no longer fall on the Ascension Day (also Fathers Day) public holiday in Germany.
The regular dates for LIGNA 2025 remain unchanged, May 26-30, but going forward and starting in 2027, dates will change to avoid the holiday.
This was a joint decision by LIGNA organizers Deutsche Messe AG and VDMA Woodworking Machinery after intensive discussions.
Stephanie Wagner, Head of LIGNA, Deutsche Messe AG, says: “The decisive factor for LIGNA’s rescheduling from 2027 onward is the change in visitor behaviour on Ascension Day and the following Friday, a bridge day.” A look at LIGNA's history shows that the trade fair was originally deliberately scheduled for Ascension Day week. The visitor focus on the public holiday was particularly on the skilled trades sector.
“However, visitors behaviour has changed significantly in recent years, Wagner says. “Thursday as a national public holiday and the following Friday as a bridge day are very popular as an extended vacation weekend, particularly by German visitors from the skilled trades sector, but also from the industry at large, according to our visitor analysis. As the world's leading trade fair for the woodworking and wood processing industry, we want to present our exhibiting companies with a high quality and quantity of national and international visitors on all five days of the fair and from all visitor target groups. From our perspective, this will only be possible if LIGNA avoids Ascension week for future trade fairs.”
VDMA Woodworking Machinery also considers a new event period for LIGNA from 2027 onwards to be of fundamental importance.
Dr. Bernhard Dirr, managing director VDMA Woodworking Machinery, says: “Efficiency is the key to a successful trade fair these days, and that applies to exhibitors and visitors alike. Time at a trade fair is valuable and needs to be used optimally. This is best achieved when the number of visitors is spread as evenly as possible over all days. This is exactly what the new LIGNA date ensures.”
When rescheduling a world-leading trade fair such as LIGNA, many different aspects and complex interrelationships have to be evaluated and taken into account. Especially with regard to the international LIGNA visitors from overseas, the proximity of dates to interzum in Cologne is also a factor. The two trade fairs are traditionally held close to each other and together attract international visitors overseas. And it is precisely these visitors who benefit from the proximity of two complementary trade fairs when planning their travel and visits.
“We are scheduling LIGNA 2027 before interzum,” Wagner says. “Starting in 2029, LIGNA will then run parallel to interzum. By taking this step, we will enable all visitors to visit both trade fairs in a balanced and time-efficient manner and thus contribute to the average length of stay of an international visitor at European trade fairs, which according to our analyses is around 2.5 days.”
LIGNA dates 2025 to 2029 at a glance:
LIGNA 2025: May 26-30, in Hanover (unchanged)
LIGNA 2027: May 10-14, in Hanover (new)
LIGNA 2029: May 14-18, in Hanover (new)
