Together with over 100 partners and a unique concept, Messe Düsseldorf will again turn the city of Düsseldorf into drupacity for drupa 2012, print media trade fair, to welcome guests from all over the world.  "In May, Düsseldorf will become a temporary home for the around 1,850 exhibitors and their 30,000 strong stand personnel as well as the 350,000 visitors and 3,000  journalists expected to come from all over the globe“, stated Manuel Mataré, Director of drupa. "We want to welcome them with this diverse program. In addition, we and/or our partners have come up with some very special events this year in order to also bring the topics of print and media a bit closer to the people of Düsseldorf.” drupa will take place from May 3 – 16, 2012 at the Düsseldorf fairgrounds.

Four shopping malls, 44 retail shops and 48 gastronomical establishments as well as the premium drupartners Duessel Aqua, Museum Kunstpalast (museums), Frankenheim, Schlösser, Schumacher, Zum Schlüssel, Uerige and Füchschen (breweries), Taxi Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Marketing&Tourism (DMT), the airport and Lufthansa are involved in drupacity 2012 concept.

A lot of the stores will give out small presents with purchases as a "little thank you" (such as an insider's guide to Düsseldorf in form of a rummy game at “Mayersche”, miniature bottles of perfume at “BEAUTYAffair”, large postcards with Düsseldorf motifs at “Art Editions Fils”, a present made of elephant dung paper at “el martin”). Some shops will have discounts, while others will offer free shipment with a purchase above a certain value. Stores in Düsseldorf are usually closed on Sundays but on May 6, almost all drupartner shops will be open.

The Düsseldorf gastronomy will also offer its guests a variety of “treats”: free desserts in combination with a main course (chocolate soufflé on morello compote at “Gallo Nero”, semolina pudding with wild berry sauce at “Curry”, Maibowle (May punch) at “Caruso”, strawberries with sushi cream at “Julian’s”  or a pre-dessert in “Patrick’s Seafood” as well as a selection of free aperitifs (drupeliá at “Hotel Meliá”, drupa-red Maibowle or a Rätemateng (herbal schnapps) at “Caruso”). Some restaurant owners (“Askitis”, “Plaisir” and “Spoerl”) will even cover the costs for a taxi ride or the shuttle from the fairgrounds to the restaurant and afterwards to the hotel.

A special highlight will be the paper boat drupaperboat, which will be anchored in the Kö-Graben in downtown Düsseldorf. The Dutch paper artist Filip Jonker created this 24.6 feet long and 8.7 feet wide boat out of 4,400 lb of paper and 5,500 lb of sand as ballast. Due to the waterproof coating, the ship is seaworthy and Filip Jonker used it to cross the channel in September 2011.

Attractive exhibitions at the Königsallee (main shopping street) will also show extraordinary products made of paper. The Kö gallery will present high-fashion accessories (bags and jewelry) made of paper, the drupaper gallery in the stilwerk will display works by the renowned paper artists Luisa Kuhn and Jo Pellenz while the Schadow Arcades will feature an interactive “Augmented Reality” project.

drupaul and drupaula, the trade fair's welcoming team, will greet the international visitors at the Düsseldorf airport. Sponsored by Lufthansa, they will “sweeten” the arrival in Düsseldorf with gummy bears and give visitors detailed information about drupa 2012 and the attractive offers of drupacity. A total of 40 teams will be working during drupa 2012.

A special drupacity guide with a map listing all the events will be available at all trade fair information points and at the fairgrounds. The prominent red drupa double-decker buses will bring guests to the most popular visitor locations in Düsseldorf and will also function as additional mobile information points for trade fair guests.

DMT will offer a special “after trade fair city tour” with open-top buses on May 5, 6, 11 and 12 at 6:00 pm. After prior registration ([email protected]), the buses will pick up the exhibitors and visitors at the Congress Center Süd (South) at the fairgrounds. After the city tour, the passengers will be dropped off in the heart of the Altstadt (Old Town).

For further information on visiting or exhibiting at drupa 2012, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America, 150 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2920, Chicago, IL 60601. Telephone: (312) 781-5180; Fax: (312) 781-5188; E-mail: [email protected]; Visit our web site http://www.mdna.com; Subscribe to our blog at http://blog.mdna.com; Follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/mdnachicago

For hotel and travel information, contact TTI Travel, Inc. at (866) 674-3476; Fax: (212) 674-3477; E-mail: [email protected]; www.traveltradeint.com