Vitória Stone Fair Off for 2021
VITÓRIA, Brazil – The Vitória Stone Fair – the last big hard-surface trade event to be held before the worldwide pandemic slowdown this year – became the latest casualty on a diminishing 2021 show calendar.
Show organizers Milanex & Milaneze announced earlier today that the 2021 edition of the event, set for next February, is cancelled.
“Despite the flexibilization of social distancing and the new protocols and rules for holding events, we understand that the greatness and importance of Vitória Stone Fair demand the delivery of a fair where we can feel 100% safe – to talk, interact, participate in meetings, close deals and celebrate the beauty and exuberance of natural materials,” the organizers noted in a statement.
“Unfortunately, due to the present circumstances, we believe that February 2021 is too soon to guarantee the holding of such a large event.”
The Vitoria show – Brazil’s largest hard-surface event – will return on Feb. 15-18, 2022. The Cachoeiro Stone Fair, also produced by Milanez and Milaneze, is still on track for this year on August 24-27 in Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, Brazil.
The show organizers also noted that the Vitória event’s website will be included in the Brazilian stone industry’s online Stone Summit efforts to create a digital arena for networking and communications, along with offering additional electronic avenues of support.
“In addition to the fairs, we will continue to work to offer solutions and projects that contribute to the recovery of commercial, human and social relations,” the statement added. “For the next year, we will work on new strategies to promote business, acting as a boosting platform for the Brazilian natural stone industry.”
Ironically, this year’s Vitória Stone Fair in February became the last major in-person stone-industry event. Shortly after the Brazil show closed, all the other large industry shows – Xiamen Stone Fair in China, Coverings in the United States, Stone+tec in Germany and both Marmomac and Cersaie in Italy – postponed and/or cancelled 2020 editions in the face of public-health concerns and greatly diminished international-travel connections.
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