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FAIR PREVIEW
Flanders Flooring Days 2023, Belgium
Mc Three and Osta par- ticipate for the first time
The Flanders region of northern Belgium is rich in both culture and cuisine. Anybody active in the world of carpets and floor coverings will find the area between Ghent and Kortrijk of especial interest, where numerous manufacturers are located within roughly 25-kilometres of each other. In 2022, many of these very producers banded together to launch a multi-in-house fair – and Flanders Flooring Days (FFD) was born.
A special culina- ry event themed around Flemish hospitality will be held as part of the program.
This multi-in-house fair differs from the classic trade fair concept: visitors from the industry are invited to the exhibitors’ own respective show- rooms, where they can quickly get an overview of their entire product array and talk to staff awaiting them on-site. Some suppliers may also offer a factory tour – which is a tremendous op- portunity for visitors to get a valuable look be- hind the scenes. Now for the first time, suppli- ers from the Netherlands will be exhibiting too, as Betap and the Condor Group will be opening pop-up showrooms just for the occasion.
Ruben Desmet, CEO and a founding partner of Unilin Flooring, described FFD 2022 thus: “As an event it was sort of like being invited to dinner at a friend’s house instead of going out to a res- taurant.” The first-ever FFD boasted attendance of 1,000 visitors from more than 55 different countries.
The decentralised concept was a success, so now the second edition of FFD is to be held from 22 – 25 May. This year there will be four more showrooms than last time. The Belgian floor covering manufacturers exhib- iting are: Associated Weavers, B.I.G. includ- ing the Beauflor, Berry Alloc and Real Orotex brands, Belysse including the ITC and Mod- ulyss brands, Coretec Floors, Lano and Unilin including the IVC and Unilin brands. Betap and the Condor Group will be representing the Netherlands. Carpet manufacturers Mc Three and Osta will be exhibiting for the first time, while Balta Home and Ragolle will not be par- ticipating this year.
A special culinary event themed around Flem- ish hospitality will be held as part of the pro- gram. Plans are in place for 2024 to expand the group of exhibitors by attracting more non- Flemish industry players from around Europe. To attend, please complete mandatory registra- tion at https://flandersflooringdays.com
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