Good news on reopening dates for events has been coming out of Europe over the past week, with Switzerland moving to allow events for more than 1,000 from 1 September.
Switzerland’s Federal Council is lifting measures put in place to tackle the coronavirus and, as of 22 June, events and gatherings for up to 1,000 people are once again be permitted. Contact tracing must be possible at all times.
Large-scale events for more than 1,000 people will be permitted from the beginning of September, as long as there is no deterioration in the epidemiological situation, the Federal Council said. Specific regulations concerning tracking and tracing will remain in place.
For the full announcement from the Federal Office of Public Health, see here.
In Lower Saxony, Germany, a reopening date has been fixed for 31 August.
The move comes as German states continue to reopen their exhibition businesses, following the separation of tradeshows from other types of mass gatherings announced last month.
The state of Lower Saxony, home of the largest German venue, Deutsche Messe, in Hanover, will reopen exhibitions on 31 August, given certain preconditions on health and safety. Click here for the regulations (page 3, 4).
The French government, meanwhile, has announced that tradeshows and exhibitions are scheduled to restart as of 1September, subject to a new assessment of the epidemic situation around Covid-19. See detail here.
Most of the major exhibition markets in Europe, including Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, (as have many smaller countries) have now set dates for the re-opening of the exhibition industry, although specific terms and conditions for the reopening are still to be published.