Photos provided by AHEC
FIMMA + Maderalia in Valencia, Spain, bid attendees and exhibitors farewell recently after a very special edition, which will possibly mark a before and after in the future of this Spanish biennial of materials, technology, machinery and solutions in the wood sector. Not only for fully consolidating the event on its 40th anniversary but for opening the doors to a new era in which internationalization, the commitment to the prescribed sector and the development of wood as a material for architecture and construction will mark the future of the event, which will return to the fair calendar in 2026.
In this sense, beyond the figures – the estimated attendance at the recent show was 35,000 visitors – organizers voiced satisfaction due to the high quality and professionalism of the visitors who attended the current edition of FIMMA + Maderalia.
Among those in attendance was the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), which hosted a hardwood pavilion. AHEC pointed out on its website that FIMMA and Maderalia are two concurrent trade shows that represent furniture production and design industries. They noted further that this pavilion was the best chance for AHEC members to reach out directly to European manufacturers in 2024.
According to president of the FIMMA Organizing Committee, businessman Santiago Riera, “We are very satisfied with how the fair has developed. Visitors came to our stands with real projects to install production lines.”
The machinery and technology area has been the one that has grown the most in this biennial, doubling its space. “All the leading brands and references worldwide have been there, and the visitor has appreciated that,” he pointed out.
For his part, from the Maderalia area, the president of its Organizing Committee, businessman Alejandro Bermejo, wanted to highlight the “broad power of convocation that FIMMA + Maderalia has had among professionals in the sector, which marks a bright future for a necessary fair for our entire group.” Bermejo, who is also president of the regional association of the furniture and wood sector, FEVAMA, wanted to highlight “the transmitting role of this fair in the culture of wood, in the ability for society to see wood as a material for the future but for the present.”
In this sense, Alejandro Roda, who made his debut this year as director of the biennial, stated, “Three objectives that were key for us have been more than met. On the one hand, international visitors have tripled, not only with the commercial missions of IVACE + i Internacional and ICEX, but also in the multitude of foreign professionals who have visited us.”
Read more about this event at www.fimma-maderalia.feriavalencia.com and www.ahec.org.
