(See also Debbie McKeegan’s coverage of the FESPA Global Print Expo.) 

FESPA Global Print Expo 2022 is not the first FESPA since start of the pandemic, but is by far biggest one so far. While last year’s event in October 2021 in Amsterdam still suffered from many restrictions and insecurities around COVID-19, the 2022 fair finally felt like a post-pandemic trade show. It ran from May 31 to June 3 in Berlin, which had hosted FESPA four years ago. As usual, the show is co-located with European Sign Expo

The 2022 show attracted almost 400 suppliers, about double the number of exhibitors in Amsterdam. This includes Epson, Fujifilm, and HP, which were not present at the 2021 event. Almost all significant large-format and textile printer vendors came to Berlin this year. As pandemic-related restrictions on the German event industry were recently lifted, it meant that there are no visitor  number or density limitations nor any requirements for face masks. Still, visitor traffic was a bit lighter compared to pre-pandemic events as the industry still recovers. The biggest impact still felt was on the number of exhibitors from the Far East. FESPA organizers stated that usually about 200 exhibitors from China would be expected—but very few came this time.