spoga+gafa announces details, new themes of 2017 event

spoga+gafa, one of the world's leading and largest garden trade fairs, will take place Sept. 3-5 in Cologne, Germany. More than 2,000 exhibitors from about 60 countries will present their innovations for the green industry to almost 40,000 international trade visitors. Every aspect of gardening and outdoor living, garden equipment, sports and games, camping and leisure, garden creation and care, plants and flowers, biochemistry and soil machines, tools and accessories and more will be on display.  

"spoga+gafa unites the entire diversity of garden products with the focus on hardware. In the garden furniture, grill and outdoor decoration sections, it has the world's largest coherent offer, and that is unique," said Katharina C. Hamma, Chief Operating Officer of Koelnmesse GmbH.

In 2017 spoga+gafa will have new features, including experiential worlds on the themes Smart Gardening, Battery and Outdoor Kitchens. The latter will be staged in Hall 8. As a result of the additional allocation of this hall, spoga+gafa 2017 has expanded its overall exhibition surface up to 226,000 square meters. TAG DES GARTENS is also being held again in 2017; the outdoor garden exhibition is taking place in the Rheinpark on Sept. 2 and 3.

In 2017, spoga+gafa will include four segments: garden living, garden creation and care, garden BBQ and garden unique. Garden living is the largest product section of spoga+gafa. Garden unique also has a strong thematic orientation on garden living. Exclusive presentations of premium outdoor furniture together with exciting young designers, who draw attention to themselves with fresh and innovative products, are the focal point of this section.

In the product segment garden creation and care, everything revolves around the creation and care of gardens and terraces. In addition to the appropriate machines, tools, garden equipment and the necessary accessories, everything on the theme of "living green" and the planting and growing can be found there. After garden living, garden BBQ is the second strongest product segment of spoga+gafa and organizers say it is the largest BBQ trade fair in the world. This year garden BBQ is expanding, adding two new themes: “sauces and spices” and outdoor kitchens.

Manufacturers of outdoor kitchens have the opportunity here to exhibit and present their products and installations for cooking in the open air.

In Hall 6 -- in the garden creation and care product segment -- two theme islands, the Smart Gardening World and the IVG Power Place Battery, will be presenting the latest technology trends for the balcony, terrace and garden this year. The exhibitor presences and product presentations, which show the new products and possibilities live and in action, will be enhanced by lectures by international experts on the Technology Stage. True to the motto "Automation is no longer stopping at the garden gate", the Smart Gardening World focuses on the latest technologies and trends for outdoor lighting, lawn care, safety, BBQs, shade systems, pools and garden irrigation. In the adjacent IVG Power Place Battery, manufacturers will be presenting their battery-run products live.

Another new feature of spoga+gafa 2017 focuses on plant trends: The POS added value islands visualize ideas for the concrete design of retail space for the two sales channels garden centers and DIY stores. They are intended to serve as inspiration or concrete implementation examples for space in the specialized garden trade, garden centers or in the garden departments of DIY stores. In line with the new "spoga+gafa experience", the POS added value islands can be visited alone or as a guided tour. The planned themes are: “Healthier living with plants,” “DIY indoor gardening,” “Edible green,” “Enjoy and experience scents” and “Cacti.”

spoga+gafa 2017 is open to trade visitors on Sept. 3 and 4 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sept. 5 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Further information is available at www.spogagafa.com.

The Garden Day 2017 is open to end-users and trade visitors on Sept. 2 and 3 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Further information is available at www.tagdesgartens-koeln.com.