IFA still on says Messe Berlin

Industry trade show IFA is still scheduled to go ahead despite the extension of Germany’s ban on large events.

In comments made to Digital TV Europe, a spokesperson for event organiser Messe Berlin said: “Even with the current decisions of the Federal Government we are sticking to our concept, which envisages that only 1000 visitors per day will be on site.”

Earlier this week, the German government extended its ban on large events through to the end of October, with the possibility of that being furthered through to 2021.

Germany began relaxing its lockdown measures at the beginning of May, but chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday that the ban would be extended in an attempt to avoid a new wave of COVID-19 infections.

IFA 2020 is set to go ahead as a ‘special edition’ to take place on September 3-5 as an invite-only event. Messe Berlin said that there would be strict limits on the number of attendees and that the event has been developed in close collaboration with German health authorities.

The event is currently set to be broken down into four smaller showcases: the IFA Global Press Conference; IFA NEXT meets IFA SHIFT Mobility, focused on cutting edge technologies; IFA Global Markets for OEMs and ODMs; and IFA Business, Retail & Meeting Lounges.