The 12th edition of the Green Events & Innovations Conference returns to the Royal Garden Hotel in London on 3rd March. Presented by A Greener Festival in partnership with the International Live Music Conference, it’s set to welcome over 200 industry leaders working to bring environmental and social sustainability to live events.
The conference mixes practical case studies, discussion panels and presentations, alongside networking coffee breaks, a complimentary lunch, and closing party, Including the International AGF Awards. Some of the top events from across the globe and their innovators will be sharing knowledge and experience, which previously have included Royal Albert Hall, Glastonbury Festival and NEC Arena.
Agreenerfestival.com
Hotel, Restaurant & Catering (HRC)
The UK’s largest hospitality and foodservice event will see 21,000 food professionals descend on ExCeL London from 3rd-5th March. Reinventing its annual Hospitality Show, organisers Fresh Montgomery are now offering four shows in one, HRC (formerly Hotelympia) encompassing The Foodservice Show, The Professional Kitchen Show, the Interiors and Tabletop Show plus the Hospitality Tech Show for three days of sourcing and networking opportunities. 600 suppliers will showcase catering equipment, food, drink, technology, interior design and tabletop solutions and deliver 80 free-to-attend talks and workshops, live cooking demonstrations and tastings.
Speakers will tackle key topics including sustainability, staff retention, health and wellbeing, alternative revenue streams, restaurant design, branding and the great British drinks movement. And once again, HRC will host the UK’s most prestigious chef competition, International Salon Culinaire, comprising of 1,000 chefs competing across four categories: Live Theatre, Skills Theatre, Sugar Craft and Salon Display.
Hrc.co.uk
EVENTIT
One of the largest Scottish events tradeshows, EVENTIT is back for its annual gathering of meetings and events professionals at Edinburgh International Conference Centre on 19th March. The tradeshow is co-located with the bi-annual Business Events Leaders’ Summit which will map out how business events create lasting economic and social impacts.
Celebrating its fifth year, it will present its biggest ever education programme with five workstreams and over 40 practical workshops. Promoting networking and face to face interaction between 800 event profs with 80 exhibitors from across the MICE supply chain.
Eventit.org.uk
Academic Venue Showcase
University of London’s Senate House plays host to the 2020 Academic Venue Showcase on 26th March, marking a change of venue and date for the ever-popular exhibition.
Around 40 academic venues from across the UK will be exhibiting from the Midlands, North East, North West and London, including The Royal Society, Conference Aston, University of Manchester and the Royal Agricultural University. One-to-one meeting appointments are available for all visitors to book with exhibitors, with a VIP Meeting Hub especially created for quieter discussions and meetings.
The free to attend seminar programme will feature bitesize, 20-minute sessions that will offer updates on events innovations and ideas for creating purposeful events that engage audiences, helping you stay ahead of emerging trends.
Academicvenuesolutions.co.uk
APRIL
The Conference and Hospitality Show
The largest show outside London for venue finders, event organisers and PAs, CHS returns to Leeds’ first direct arena on 28th April. Over the last decade, the event has connected exhibitors with more than 800 key buyers from across the UK, its 2019 show selling out stands four months before its doors opened.
Now in its 11th year of tradeshows, the show will attract exhibitors from the UK’s top venues, hotels and meeting suppliers while offering a range of educational sessions and networking events. After seeing a 16% increase of hosted buyers in 2019, which means its 220 exhibitors were seeing more quality buyers with purchasing power, CHS Group’s flagship show seeks to maximise exposure while limiting time away from the office, introducing pre-scheduled appointments and combining the hosted buyer and exhibitor party the night before the show for increased networking opportunities.
Chsleeds.com
JUNE
The Meetings Show
Another top platform for meetings and events businesses, The Meetings Show is back for another round on 24th and 25th June at Olympia London. The event brings together over 5,000 meetings and events professionals from agency buyers, media, in-house and associations planners, with 750 exhibitors from around the world including hotels, luxury hotels, destinations, destination management companies, conference centres, venues and technology suppliers.
Launched in 2013, The Meetings Show is the only UK event offering a fully-hosted buyer programme. 2019 saw over 12,000 pre-scheduled meetings taking place on the show floor, alongside 40 hours of educational content, featuring workshops from ‘Sharpening Your Event Skills’ and ‘Creating and Communicating the Vision’, to ‘Making Your Events Memorable’ and ‘Getting People There’.
Themeetingsshow.com
SEPTEMBER
Venues + Events Live
Headed up by Ocean Media Group, Venues + Events Live is one of UK’s biggest events exhibitions, attracting hundreds of venues, restaurants, hotels, bars, blank canvas spaces and event suppliers. Following the success of its London exhibition, welcoming upwards of 5,000 event professionals every year, 2019 saw the launch of Venues + Events Live Manchester.
Organisers reported a successful first year with over 1,000 event profs in attendance and a programme of 20 prominent industry experts including ‘millionaire party planner’ Liz Taylor, Mike Blake-Crawford, Director of Strategy Social Chain, and Shaun Hinds, CEO of Manchester Central who spoke on everything from styling advice for creative corporate events, to tips on finding the perfect venue.
This year’s show will take place from 23rd to 24 September at Old Billingsgate, London, while its sister show comes to Manchester Central on 29th September, with some of the industry’s top exhibitors and a variety of content including workshop sessions and hands-on masterclasses.
Venuesandevents.co.uk
OCTOBER
Independent Hotel Show
A firm fixture in the tradeshow calendar of independent hoteliers and industry professionals, Independent Hotel Show takes over Olympia London from 5-6th October. The show welcomes product and service providers from across the hotel supply chain, together with expert insights from the seminar programme and networking opportunities.
Now in its eighth year, the event will bring together over 6,500 hotel owners, general managers and key decision-makers to explore creative solutions from 350 hotel suppliers, designed to help transform the hotel guest experience. From high-end interior designers to leading technology suppliers, exhibitors will showcase new products and services which share the aim of helping hoteliers improve their business.
2019 highlights included the release of a report detailing consumers’ attitudes to wellness travel, a futuristic hotel bedroom, ‘The Conscious Bedroom’, modelled on the show floor and a discussion with Britain’s most influential hotelier Robin Hutson, CEO of acclaimed Home Grown Hotels.
Independenthotelshow.co.uk
CHS Birmingham
CHS Group recently announced the launch of CHS Birmingham, bringing the Midlands its very own hospitality and events industry exhibition, set to take place on the 27th October at the iconic Birmingham ICC. The announcement comes as part of the group’s new two-year development strategy which includes the development of a brand identity, CSR commitment, and plans to grow the group’s portfolio of events.
Chsbirmingham.com
The Showman’s Show
The Showman’s Show will return to Newbury Showground on 21st-22nd October offering its annual exhibition of products, services and entertainment for the festival, outdoor and special event industry. The show attracts an average of 4,500 visitors and over 350 exhibitors from manufacturers, contractors and suppliers.
Showmans-directory.co.uk
NOVEMBER
Event Buyers Live
Having secured exclusive access of Nottingham’s EMCC and The Orchard Hotel, Event Buyers Live is back for its eighth instalment on 23rd-25th November. Winners of the Best Large Conference Space and Best Sustainable CSR Venue Practice at the 2019 CHS Awards, will host only 100 event organisers who are in a position to review their supplier chain and event location.
The event is designed to facilitate pre-arranged one-on-one meetings between live event organisers and suppliers, while offering an educational programme that promotes opportunities to exchange best practice.
Eventbuyerslive.com
Event Tech Live
Europe’s only show dedicated to the world of events technology, Event Tech Live takes place from 4-5th November at The Old Truman Brewery, London. In its seventh year, 2019 was the most successful show to date, attracting a record 2,500 visitors, generating over 15,000 leads.
To accommodate growing demand, organisers of the show have incorporated more content, educational sessions and space. The addition of Hall 4 includes a new stage – the MarTech Stage – to offer a dedicated area for event marketing technology. The 70 educational sessions that run across the tradeshow’s two days focus on a broad range of relevant topics such as GDPR in live events, outdoor events, future trends, sustainability and wellbeing. 75% of exhibiting opportunities have already been sold ahead of the 2020 date.
Eventtechlive.com[