Freiburg Wirtschaft Touristik und Messe GmbH & Co. KG (FWTM) will no longer be able to hold Interbrush, which was set to take place from May 4 to 6, 2022, at Messe Freiburg. The exhibition for the brush and paintbrush industry normally opens its doors every four years to around 7,000 visitors from over 90 countries, making it a truly global event. In March 2020, FWTM shared the news that the leading international exhibition, which was originally planned for May 2020, would be postponed until 2022. The reason for this was the rapidly increasing number of COVID-19 infections across Europe and the rest of the world. Over the past weeks, FWTM has held many discussions with exhibitors, visitors and representatives of the American Brush Manufacturers Association (ABMA), the German Brush Manufacturers’ Association and the European Brushware Federation (FEIBP) about plans for the 2022 Interbrush. The event typically has to be planned well in advance, as the exhibiting machine manufacturers in particular require a lead time of about 12 to 14 months.

Everyone involved expressed their uncertainty as to whether visitors to Interbrush would be able to travel to Germany in May 2022 without being affected by certain COVID-related health and safety restrictions, or if they would be interested in coming despite any restrictions. Organizing Interbrush requires a very high level of planning security for everyone involved, which cannot be guaranteed as things stand today. Moreover, there is no guarantee of reliable planning in the foreseeable future which would allow for a sufficient lead time in organizing the Interbrush exhibition.

“We have great hopes that we will be able to return to a certain level of normalcy by the end of 2021. But we cannot be absolutely sure. With regard to economic viability, we must currently work to protect organizers and exhibitors alike and ensure that they do not make investments that will not pay off. We have therefore reached the joint decision to cancel Interbrush as we had planned it for the coming year,” says Daniel Strowitzki, CEO of FWTM. “We regret that we are forced to postpone the event once again in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this is the responsible decision to make in the interest of the health of all exhibitors, visitors and staff.”

The next Interbrush is set to take place in 2024 in close collaboration with the international professional industry associations and the leading exhibitors. The exhibition is planned to take place from May 24 to 26, 2024.

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