(China) – The event, due to take place from 9-12 June, will now be held at a later date.

Messe Frankfurt has this week announced that the two concurrent fairs in its Light+Building portfolio, Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition (GILE) and Guangzhou Electrical Building Technology (GEBT) have been postponed due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Both fairs were originally due to take place from 9-12 June and will now be held at a future date; they will remain at the China Import and Export Fair Complex in Guangzhou.

Lucia Wong, Deputy General Manager of Messe Frankfurt, explained: “As a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, which is having an unprecedented impact across the globe, we believe it is the right and responsible decision as the fairs’ organiser to postpone GILE and GEBT.

“While the situation has improved in China, other countries worldwide are experiencing an increasing amount of cases. With this in mind, along with the various travel restrictions that are currently in place that would make travel for many of our exhibitors and visitors difficult, we feel that the decision is within the best interests of the industry. We are working with the fairground to secure a new date that will suit the needs of the industry, and will announce this as soon as possible.”

While the news will come as little surprise to the lighting industry, the only shock is that organisers waited this long to make the decision. The announcement comes a week after Messe Frankfurt announced that Light+Building, originally rescheduled from mid-March to 27 September, has been cancelled until March 2022.

Wong continued: “In these unprecedented times and as we all reallocate our time, energy and resources to navigate our immediate challenges, we ask the industry to remember that we are facing this together.

“Looking forwards, we are positive that the industry will emerge from this crisis more resilient, innovative and better prepared to shape the future.”

New dates for GILE to follow.

www.guangzhou-international-lighting-exhibition.hk.messefrankfurt.com