With so many industry events being cancelled or postponed this year, it's good to hear that PacPrint - Australia's leading show for print, sign, display, labels and packaging - has been rescheduled to 28 September - 1 October 2021. “This will make the Melbourne show the industry's first major expo for two years so it's likely to be a bumper edition, with the new dates also ensuring PacPrint maintains its position as an important post-drupa event,” say the organisers.
Following the decision to move global expo drupa to April, 2021, PacPrint organiser Visual Connections decided to postpone its event from 25-28 May, 2021; it will now take place on 28 September–1 October, 2021.
The four-day show, held in conjunction with Visual Impact and Label & Packaging Expo, will run as usual at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre, with the decision on timing made to ensure that businesses in Australia, New Zealand and the surrounding region enjoy the full benefit of Australia’s traditional ‘post-drupa’ show.
Messe Düsseldorf announced in March that global mega-show drupa would be rescheduled to 10 – 20 April, 2021, meaning exhibitors and visitors would barely have had time to return from Dusseldorf before PacPrint was scheduled to open its doors in late May.
“One of PacPrint’s strongest advantages has always been its timing, coming roughly one year after DRUPA," said Peter Harper, CEO of supplier organisation Visual Connections, which organises PacPrint and its sister shows in Australia. "This typically means that new technologies released at DRUPA – even some of those shown in Düsseldorf as prototypes – are nearly always ready for immediate sale and supply in this region by the time PacPrint rolls around, so businesses can benefit straight away.
“Following so closely on the heels of DRUPA would have created logistical challenges for many of our PacPrint exhibitors seeking to get both personnel and post-DRUPA releases to Australia in time for the Melbourne show. It just wasn’t feasible.
“By maintaining this buffer of a few months, PacPrint 2021 will give exhibitors the opportunity to show DRUPA-release technologies to the Australian market and provide thousands of industry people who are not able to make it to Germany the opportunity to see the latest innovations as soon as possible.”
In announcing the new dates, Harper paid tribute to his events team, who he says have been working overtime on a solution, and also to the team at the MCEC who've had a challenging time trying to accommodate changes and cancellations caused by the coronavirus.
“We are grateful to our colleagues at the MCEC for working with us to secure these new dates, which we believe will help us maintain PacPrint’s position as the market-leading show for print, sign, display, labels and packaging in this region,” Harper said.
"While there is still plenty of work to be done in concert with exhibitors and other stakeholders, the fact that a window has been secured in which to bring the very latest innovations and market knowledge to businesses in this part of the world is a huge positive.
“It’s good news for everyone, and we look forward to releasing more detail over the coming days and weeks.'
Updates will be available at www.visualconnections.org.au, on the association’s Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook feeds, or by following the hashtags #printexpoaus and #pacprint.
In the meantime, Visual Connections will be running its very first Virtual Trade Show for print, sign, display and graphics from 30 May to 30 September.
Registrations for the free show are open now and can be made by emailing exhibitions@visualconnections.org.au
