Rimini: 2017 is getting off to a great start for IEG – Italian Exhibition Group SpA. The new player on the expo scene was officially founded on 1st November with the merger between Rimini Fiera and Fiera di Vicenza, which now is the second largest Italian expo hub as far as turnover is concerned. Led by president Lorenzo Cagnoni, vice president Matteo Marzotto and General Manager Corrado Facco, IEG begins the new year with two world-level expos – VICENZAORO and SIGEP – each in its respective market, but based on the same great value: things well done in Italy.
President Cagnoni announced: “Overall, the two expos will feature over 4,000 exhibitors, and await 260,000 trade visitors, of whom, with a wonderful international profile, over 70,000 will be coming from abroad.”
500 highly qualified top buyers from the main key markets will be at Vicenza, and the same number are awaited at SIGEP; in both cases in collaboration with ICE, the Agency for the foreign promotion and internationalization of Italian enterprises – under the Italian government’s special plan for the promotion of Italian-made products.
On Friday, the 20th of January, Fiera di Vicenza hosts the inauguration of VICENZAORO January, the international jewellery boutique. Until the 25th of January, products, new collections and innovations from over 1,500 brands from 36 countries will be showcased. Visitors, buyers, journalists, opinion leaders and trendsetters are expected from over 120 nations.
The leitmotif of VICENZAORO January 2017 will be Responsible Gold, a project begun at the previous editions, for the promotion of Corporate Social Responsibility in the gold and jewellery world, which features important issues such the value of traceabilitỳ, ethical trading, environmental protection, the safeguard of workers’ rights and obligations, and health protection. The following editions of VICENZAORO are scheduled for the 23rd to 27th of September, for the autumn edition, and from the 15th to 18th of November for VOD – Dubai International Jewellery Show.
Visitors to VICENZAORO will also have the opportunity to see the second new collection of the Jewellery Museum, inaugurated on 16th December 2016. The museum is the first in Italy and one of the few in the world dedicated exclusively to jewellery. It is located in Vicenza’s Palladian Basilica.
On Saturday 21st January, Fiera di Rimini will host the inauguration of SIGEP, the world-level expo dedicated to artisan confectionery, which this year is being held along with the biennial A.B. Tech Expo, featuring bakery technologies. With the expo centre sold out for months, Fiera di Rimini will also use the recently finished first stage of the expo centre’s expansion, which increased space to 118,000 sq.m. and foresees an increase to 129,000 sq.m. by the end of 2017. Gelato, pastry, baked goods and coffee (included in the expo’s offering as of this year) are the product varieties being featured.
With the participation of all international artisan confectionery’s great masters, the expo awaits visitors from 170 countries and the program includes extremely interesting events, such as the Under-23 World Confectionery Championship (10 teams from every continent); the German Challenge with 62 German gelato makers competing for access to the finals of the Gelato World Tour in Berlin in July 2017; Bread in The City, with eight nations (the first four from the last two editions) fighting it out for the title of best country for bakery specialities. SIGEP will also host the announcement of the new stops on the Gelato World Tour and Gelato Festival.
