International Trade Fair Creative company handarbeit & hobby is going to organize a textile fair in Cologne during 31st March to 2nd April 2006.

Needlework yarns and implements, haberdashery, tapestry, home-textiles knitting- and sewing machines, craft and hobby supplies – products will be exhibited in the fairs.

Wiesbaden / Cologne. “An increasing number of people are rediscovering handicrafts”, according to an article entitled ‘the passion for wool’ in the women’s magazine Brigitte: knitting is the ultimate hobby in our mobile society; it is not only communicative, but also rebellious, elitist and it provides a sense of achievement. Knitting is even said to lower the blood pressure, making people relaxed and happy.

This statement is backed up by a long-term French research project which goes as far as to claim that hobbies such as knitting, travelling and gardening halve the risk of dementia. Try finding a better reason for clicking the knitting needles! Creative new lines in wool, embroidery and crochet yarns are ideal for making eye-catching accessories – all the rage in summer 2005.

- Knitting makes you healthy, relaxed and happy

- Eye-catching accessories will characterize the fashion in summer 2005

The handarbeit & hobby (h&h) organiser, Messe Frankfurt Ausstellungen GmbH, benefitting from the immense popularity of handicrafts, also has very positive results to report. Already, some three months after the end of the most important international trade fair in this sector, approximately 150 suppliers (final status in 2005: 182) have booked exhibition space at the Cologne Exhibition Grounds for handarbeit & hobby 2006. As a result, more than 90 percent of this year’s total exhibition surface area has already been reserved to date. “The trade fair’s success and the sustained optimism in the sector have made exhibitors more decisive and they have already registered to take part in h&h 2006“, commented Thomas Schütz, Managing Director of Messe Frankfurt Ausstellungen GmbH, on the current development.
With 8,100 trade visitors - 11 percent more than in 2004 – the number of attendees rose for the third year running; h&h 2005 was an exceptionally successful event. 92% of the suppliers who took part in the official exhibitor survey rated the attendance statistics with grades one to three (grade one is the highest grade possible).

More than 80 percent evaluated the number of sales talks positively, ranging from ‘excellent’ to ‘good’. In addition, the number of new customer contacts made at the event was evaluated as either ‘excellent’,‘very good’ or ‘good’ by 86 percent of the respondents.

The next handarbeit & hobby will be held from 31 March to 2 April 2006 at the Cologne Exhibition Grounds. The exhibition will be located in the same hall as this year. However, the name of the hall will have changed from hall 11 to hall 2.

Largest and most international trade fair organizer handarbeit & hobby is located in Wiesbaden, Germany.