Next Stone+tec in Nuremberg: 2018

NUREMBERG, Germany – The Stone+tec stone event, held here every two years, will take an extra year off before the next edition.

The central European stone show will return in June 2018, coordinating with a move by show organizers and others to host the event in even-numbered years.

Previous, the trade fair occurred in odd-numbered years. The last edition, held this May, drew 15,000+ attendees, and initial reports after the event cited a return in May 2017.

The move to June 13-16 in 2018 came after a joint decision by the the fair’s honorary sponsors, BIV (Association of German Stonemasons) and DNV (German Natural Stone Association), the advisory board of Stone+tec and the organizer, NürnbergMesse GmbH. The group cited “the express preference of many exhibitors, visitors and professional associations” in making the change.

“The new schedule will help Stone+tec take a great step into the future,” said Petra Wolf of the NürnbergMesse GmbH management team. “We have been able to offer a timeframe for Stone+tec that the industry wanted, and one that is ideal for most visitors and exhibitors. At the same time, it’s also a bold move.

“Just this once, to adjust to the new sequence, there will be a longer gap – an extra 12 months – before the next Stone+tec. When it starts again in 2018, the trade fair will again provide fresh momentum as the key meeting place for the international stone industry in Germany.”

The change to even years is the second major change for the event this decade; Stone+tec refocused its efforts for its 2013 event to concentrate mainly on the German stone market. Previously, it promoted itself more as an international event, and drew more than 40,000 attendees per edition in the early 2000s.

While the show will retain its traditional Wednesday-Saturday run, the calendar change to June will avoid overlapping dates with holidays. Traditionally, Stone+tec’s Thursday operations had coincided with Ascension Day, a public holiday in Germany.

The central European stone show, occurring in odd-numbered years, will move to even-numbered years, according to a joint decision by its honorary sponsors, advisory board and event organizer. And, the event will next occur in June 2018.

“Stone+tec is extraordinarily important for our entire industry,” adds Reiner Krug, DNV managing director. “The next time the fair is held, it won’t coincide with a holiday, an extra day off between a holiday and a weekend, or school holidays. That means we can appeal much more to exhibitors and visitors from the construction industry, such as architects, planners and representatives from the authorities, and sell them on the performance of Germany’s natural stone industry.”

Sybille Trawinski, BIV general manager, said that, “We will pool all our efforts again as a professional association for Stone+tec 2018, and put together a broad range of products and services for all areas of the stonemasonry trade.

“The construction industry is precisely where stonemasons need new stimuli to remain viable for the longer term. For them, the fair is the central marketplace for innovative ideas and products, and the place they go to see the latest developments, make comparisons and do good business.”

Stone+tec 2018 will be held in halls 9, 10, 11 and 12 at the Nuremberg exhibition venue, with a new and generous hall layout. The focal points of this international event will continue to be natural stone, stone processing and gravestones.

At the same time, Stone+tec will offer more inspiration for the areas of design, construction and interior construction, and will also look at related materials such as engineered stone and large ceramics.

Registrations for exhibitors at Stone+tec 2018 will open this September.

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