Messe Frankfurt India & MEX Exhibitions announce first hybrid event

India’s most comprehensive exhibition on garment and textile manufacturing – Gartex Texprocess India is all set to be launched as a ‘hybrid’ event in 2021. A significant event in the textile trade calendars, the 2021 edition will be held alongside yet another premier fair for screen, textile, sublimation and digital printing technologies – Screen Print India thus bringing the entire textile value chain together for business through their new hybrid format.

In conjunction with MEX Exhibitions, Messe Frankfurt Trade Fairs India announced that Gartex Texprocess India will be the first textile sector exhibition to take the hybrid route. Scheduled alongside Messe Frankfurt’s Screen Print India fair after a hiatus of one year due to trade and travel disruptions caused by the pandemic, both Mumbai and Delhi editions aim to bring the entire textile value chain together through their new co-located and hybrid formats.

A year after textile and printing sectors were hit by unprecedented business challenges, the much-awaited Mumbai edition is set to bring industry players face-to-face with new opportunities from 18-20 March at the Bombay Exhibition Centre. However, with the on-going travel restrictions that are still in place globally, the new-age multi-modal exhibition will allow screen printing and textile sector exhibitors and visitors to take full advantage of both physical interactions and virtual networking opportunities.

The hybrid format for both the fairs are being specially curated by the organisers with live product demonstration features to allow exhibitors to showcase their innovations and new product range to buyers who may be unable to attend the physical fair, thus ensuring dual access to trade opportunities.

A first for the Indian subsidiary, Raj Manek, Executive Director and Board Member,

Messe Frankfurt Asia Holdings shared: “We are delighted to announce our first hybrid venture for the co-located shows – Gartex Texprocess India & Screen Print that will offer an intelligent combination of digital and physical interactions for business exchange. The textile and printing businesses thrives on the ‘touch-and-feel’ aspect of networking which makes the physical trade fair the number one choice for buyers. However, its virtual features will be the perfect extension to expand exhibitor visibility and networking opportunities with buyers.”

Highlighting the synergic effects, Gaurav Juneja, Director, MEX Exhibitions added: “The demand to meet in-person for business networking is strong and I believe the hybrid format together with its co-location with Screen Print India fair will create the perfect business synergy for the sector. We are looking forward to welcoming the entire industry for a successful first hybrid edition and are confident it will provide multi-fold trade opportunities to the sector.”

In order to keep the trade momentum going in the second half of the buying calendar, the organisers have also confirmed that the New Delhi edition of the co-located fairs (initially slated in December 2020) will now be rescheduled to 6 – 8 August 2021 at Pragati Maidan with its new hybrid format.

Both Mumbai and Delhi editions will allow fair goers to explore a wide range of features like targeted business matchmaking, real-time video calling, scheduling meetings in advance, live knowledge sessions through the digital platform alongside the traditional physical event.

As the world was gripped with the Covid crisis, the textile industry stood as a leading force driving need-of-the-hour textile product innovations in the market.

The two premier fairs scheduled alongside each other can, therefore, open a gamut of new business opportunities.

While the focus segments under Gartex Texprocess India will draw attention to innovations in garmenting & apparel machinery, Screen Print India will track technological advances in digital textile and screen-printing technologies. Prominent highlights of the show include Denim Show, Embroidery Zone, Garmenting & Apparel Machinery Zone, Digitex Show, India Laundry Show and Fabrics & Trims Show. Together, the platform will also host a series of insightful sessions aiming to keep the industry abreast with the latest developments in textile, garment machinery and screen printing.