The Tire Cologne cancels 2021 show

The organiser of The Tire Cologne has confirmed that the trade fair will not take place in May, as previously announced. Instead, Koelnmesse intends to focus upon plans for The Tire Cologne to return in 2022. The organiser told Tyrepress that the cancellation reflected Germany’s evolving response to the pandemic. With the latest national lockdown already extended and speculation that measures could last beyond the end of February, Koelnmesse explained that the window for organising even a smaller event had become too small. As of 10 February, it has therefore pivoted to marketing new dates for the next edition of The Tire Cologne, 24-26 May 2022.

This is the second coronavirus-related postponement of The Tire Cologne. The biennial show, which debuted in 2018, was originally scheduled to take place between 9 and 12 June 2020. This event was postponed last March as lockdown measures began to be implemented across Europe, with new dates in May 2021 announced at the time. Koelnmesse communications manager Voelker de Cloedt said the show organiser abandoned the two-year show rhythm and selected a date in 2021 as “suspending The Tire Cologne now and only returning to it in June 2022 for rhythm reasons would mean a four-year interruption.”

The Tire Cologne’s official statement explains that the cancellation is “due to the still great challenges for the implementation of trade fair events and the ongoing travel restrictions as a result of the corona pandemic.” 

“Koelnmesse and the Bundesverband Reifenhandel und Vulkaniseur-Handwerk e.V. (BRV) have followed the development of the pandemic and the current political measures intensively,” explains Oliver Frese, managing director of Koelnmesse. “In particular, they have analysed the possible consequences for everyone involved in the trade fair. Unfortunately, as hoped, there has not been a significant improvement in the situation in Germany, Europe and around the world.

“As a result of the current facts, The Tire Cologne Extra Edition will be canceled in May and we will return to the regular event rhythm.”

Yorick M. Lowin, managing director of the BRV, adds: “Together we are now focusing our forces on the event in the coming year in order to position The Tire Cologne again as the leading global industry trade fair.”

The date for the fair in the early summer is a fixture in the international tyre and wheel industry, previously represented by Messe Essen’s biennial Reifen show until 2016. The organisers state that these dates are “closely tailored to the needs of the industry.”