No plans to instead create a virtual show – entire 2022 event is cancelled.
By Andrew Joseph, Farms.com
Despite it being nearly two months away, the 2022 London Farm Show has decided to cancel the expo, opting to not have it replaced with a virtual event.
Originally scheduled for March 9-11, 2022, in a pandemic scarred world and with the Omicron COVID-19 variant bulldozing its way throughout the global populace, event organizers, Western Fair District, discussed the show’s viability with many of its show exhibitors, sponsors and attendees.
Feedback was established with concerns about staffing the exhibits at the show, and after also considering also that the Western Fair District Agriplex facility continues to be utilized as a vaccination clinic, the decision to cancel the event was made.
The decision trumps a January 20, 2022 notice that Ontario provincial public health measures and restrictions would begin to be cautiously and gradually eased over the next few months if Omicron infections continued to trend downward.
With no definitive timeline as to when full restrictions might be relaxed, even event organizers were reluctant to try and put on a first-class event within the narrow timeline remaining—successful trade events can take a full year to prepare.
The organizers have indicated that all payments made for the towards the tradeshow will be refunded as quickly as possible.
As noted, a virtual tradeshow event is not in the cards. However, organizers do plan to offer a #Plant22 Snack Box for sale, with opportunities for companies to sponsor a swag item or locally-sourced snack item in the box. Boxes will go on sale in early March, 2022.
A similar program, ‘Ag in the East’, ran at Ottawa Valley Farm Show last year, to which the London Farm Show event organizers acknowledge for the idea.
To book an opportunity with the #Plant22 Snack Boxes, click here: https://www.westernfairdistrict.com/sites/default/files/snack_boxes_sales_sheet.pdf
Organizers are hopefully of a return to a semblance of normality by the time the 2023 London Farm Show rolls around, March 8-10, 2023.