COLOGNE, Germany, August 30, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cologne Exhibition Centre in full bloom: From 5th to 7th September 2010 spoga+gafa is bringing the market participants from the international garden and leisure sector together in the cathedral city. At the world's leading business platform of the year over 2,000 suppliers from 53 countries will present their outdoor lifestyle innovations. The garden trade fair is thus offering trade visitors a comprehensive global market overview throughout the Exhibition Centre in the segments garden creation, garden living, garden care, garden excellence and garden basic. "Compared to spoga+gafa, no other event presents the garden market in this breadth", says Oliver P. Kuhrt, Executive Vice-President, Koelnmesse. Special presentation areas in the barbecue, garden furniture and water sports sectors along with new concepts for the boulevard and the excellence sector provide lots of scope and space for communication and interaction.

spoga+gafa is once again impressing with its worldwide unrivalled internationality: 1,544 companies come from abroad, 473 from Germany. The European nations, for example the Netherlands, Italy and Great Britain, are represented with large contingents. Participants from faraway and exotic countries such as El Salvador or Korea are enhancing the colourful product range diversity.

Current trade fair trends

The so-called homing trend is also continuing in 2010/11. People's own greenery is becoming a place of withdrawal, a place where everyday stress is kept at bay. At spoga+gafa trade visitors will find everything required to transform the garden or balcony into a personal nearby recreational area: from the space-saving collapsible balcony furniture in bold, striking trend colours up to XXL upholstered sofa landscapes for the garden, seating furniture in exquisite wickerwork and material mix, modern-interpretation beer garden furniture sets, extravagant lounge furniture, beach chairs, smart outdoor showers or parasols. Even rain butts are decorating the garden with an exquisite look next year. In the barbecue section, compact and high-performance kettle or table barbecues are the trend-setters. In addition, the manufacturers are showing refined further developed products extending up to completely equipped outdoor kitchens. In the area of garden appliances and garden care, among others the latest rechargeable battery technology for lawnmowers along with new garden watering aids or innovative plant protection solutions are being presented.

Top Ten of innovations

The special presentation areas "Barbecue Park" (Passage 4/5), "Beach and Water Sports Park" (Hall 5.2) and "Garden Furniture Park" (Passage 3/11) will once again serve as showcases for the top innovations in the respective segments. The "Top Ten" products presented there are being selected for the garden furniture segment in the run-up to the event by sector experts and shown to the visitors in an entertaining presentation. Flowering innovations are being shown in the Plant Park (Hall 9).

A journey through the garden year on the "boulevard of ideas"

Specialist trade competence and expertise along with new impulses for product range planning are the focal point all around the exhibitors' stands at spoga+gafa 2010. Along the new "boulevard of ideas" trade visitors can embark on an informative journey through the garden year. There, in cooperation with the "Kom:pakt" commercial agency, spoga+gafa is showing Point-of-Sale concepts for large-space retail outlets and the retail trade

New opening times

spoga+gafa 2010 is open from 5th to 7th September to trade visitors only on Sunday and Monday from 10.00 to 19.00 and on Tuesday from 10.00 to 18.00 hrs. Visitors can access the Halls via the South, West and East Entrances. The admission tickets entitle the holder to visit spoga as well as the parallel event spoga horse. For more information: http://www.spogagafa.com.

    
    Press contact:
    Koelnmesse GmbH, Henriette Preiss, press officer house, garden, leisure
    phone: +49-221-821-2528, h.preiss@koelnmesse.de