Poznań International Fair

The Poznań International Fair (PIF, Polish: Międzynarodowe Targi Poznańskie, MTP) is the biggest industrial fair in Poland. It is held on the Poznań fairground in Poland. Poznań International Fair is located in the centre of the city opposite the main railway station – Poznań Główny, in the centre of Poland and in the centre of Europe. Typically, there are about 13,200 exhibitors including about 3,000 foreign companies from 70 countries of the world participating in 80 trade fair events organized on the grounds of the Poznań fair. The Poznań-based fair owns the largest exhibition and conference infrastructure in Poland, including 16 high standard air-conditioned halls with a large exhibition area (over 110,000 square metres (1,200,000 sq ft) in exhibition halls and almost 35,000 square metres (380,000 sq ft) on open grounds) and 81 modern conference rooms. History The idea of organising a modern fair by Polish manufacturers and merchants had its origins during the congress of the Union of Merchant Associations held in Poznań in 1917. The Union was an organisation of Polish merchants from Greater Poland and Eastern Pomerania. The fair was required to be of an international character and organised like the Leipzig Trade Fair. The first Poznań Trade Fair (I Targ Poznański), as it was called, took place in 1921 (from 28 May till 5 June), and the first chairman was Mieczysław Krzyżankiewicz. Before 1924, only Polish companies, companies from Free City of Gdańsk and foreign companies with branches in Poland which were represented by Polish citizens could participate. During 1924, agreements were signed with companies from Czechoslovakia, France, Yugoslavia, Latvia, Germany, Romania, Switzerland, and Sweden, so that the first really international fair took place in 1925. In 1927 the PIF was accepted as a member of the UFI. The intensive developments of the 1920s were crowned by the huge General National Exhibition (Polish: Powszechna Wystawa Krajowa, PWK, PeWuKa) of 1929 that was visited by 4,5 mln people. This was the year that the Great Depression began. Despite the difficult economic situation, the PIF survived and at the end of the interbellum it was one of largest companies of its kind in Europe. During World War II, the company ceased to exist, its infrastructure was confiscated, and turned into a factory of Focke-Wulf, which made the PIF a military target for the Allied air forces. This led to great destruction of its infrastructure in 1945. During the war 85% of the PIF was destroyed, but despite this damage, the first postwar exhibition took place in 1946 and one year later, in 1947, the PIF had already regained its international character. In 1990 the Poznań International Fair transformed into a limited liability company with the State Treasure as one of its shareholders Since then the PIF is continuing to expand and enlarge its exhibition space. Poznań International Fair today Today the PIF is the largest trade fair organizer in Poland (by over 50% of total exhibition area and over 60% of exhibitors). It is the 21st largest fair in the world, with about 50 trade events taking place on its area every year. Area of PIF is over 110,000 m2 (1,200,000 sq ft) indoor and 35,000 m2 (380,000 sq ft) outdoor exhibition space. PIF a is state-owned company – 60% of shares belong to Polish State Treasury, and 40% to the City of Poznań. MTP organises expositions of Polish leaders at over 50 renowned trade shows and exhibitions abroad in such countries as: Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Czech Republic, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. MTP has foreign representative offices all over the world. The World Expo Company is an official representative office of MTP Group in Ukraine and works on such exhibitions as Budma and other. Every year, MTP organises over 1,600 congresses, conferences and workshops and hosts about 100,000 participants at these events. List of annual exhibitions organized by the PIF Polagra AGRO-PREMIERY – International Trade Fair of Agricultural Mechanization AQUA-SAN – Bathroom and Wellness Exhibition BAKEPOL – Trade Fair for the Bakery Industry in Kielce Bezpieczeństwo Pracy w Przemyśle – Work Safety in Industry Exhibition Biuro – Fair of Office Furniture and Furnishing Body Style – Exhibition of Lingerie and Beach Fashion Budma – International Construction Fair Bumasz – International Fair for Construction Machines, Tools and Equipment BuyPoland – workshop for the tourism industry Dodatki do żywności – International Food Ingredients Show Home Decor – Exhibition of textiles, table and kitchen, light, interior design Drema – International Trade Fair of Machines and Tools for the Wood and Furniture Industries Targi Edukacyjne – Education Fair Energia – Power Industry Exhibition Eurofoto – Trade Fair of Photographic Products and Services Expopower – Power Industry Fair Farma – International Trade Fair of Animal Breeding, Horticulture and Rural Development Poznańskie Dni Mody – Fair of Clothing and Fabrics Festiwal Przedmiotów Artystycznych – Festival of Artistic Objects FIT-EXPO – Fair of Fitness and Body & Fashion Furnica – Trade Fair of Components for Furniture Production FurniFab – Furniture Fabric Show – Supply Show for the Upholstered Furniture Industry Gardenia – Garden Trade Fair Wiosenna Giełda Turystyczna – Spring Tourist Market Euro-Reklama GIFT EXPO – International Trade Fair of Advertising Goods and Services HiPeCo – International Trade Fair for Hygiene and Pest Control HOBBY – Salon Modelarstwa – Show of modellers Infosystem – Fair of IT Solution for industry and administration Instalacje – International Trade Fair for Installations and Equipment Intermasz – International Trade Fair of Textile, Clothes and Shoemaking Machines Investfield – Property and Investment Salon Gastro-Invest-Hotel – Exhibition of Products and Services for the Hotel and Catering Industry Targi Książki – Poznań Fair for Books for Children and Young People KWO – National Horticultural Exhibition KWZH – National Animal Breeding Exhibition Look – Hairdressing and Cosmetics Forum Mach-Tool – Machine Tools Exhibition Meble – Fair of Furniture and Furnishing Metalforum – Exhibition of Metallugrical, Foundry Engineering and Metallurgy Industry Motoryzacja – TTM – Automotive Technology Fair NA RYBY – Angling Equipment Trade Fair Natura Sanat – International Health Resort and Tourism Trade Fair in Polanica Zdrój Nauka dla gospodarki – Exhibition Science for the Economy Next Season – Fair of long-term contracts Poznański Salon Optyczny – Optical Salon Euro-Reklama OUTDOOR EXPO – International Trade Fair of Advertising Goods and Services Pakfood – Fair of Packaging for Food Industry PGA – Game Arena – Exhibition of video and computer games Polagra-Food – International Trade Fair for the Foodstuffs and Gastronomy Polagra-Tech – International Trade Fair of Food Processing Technologies Polagra-Tech Poleko – International Ecological Fair Poligrafia – International Fair of Printing Machines, Materials and Services Poznańskie Spotkanai Motoryyzacyjne – Automotive Industry Meetings Roltechnika – Exhibition of Agricultural Machines and Equipment – (takes place in Bierkowice city quarter of Opole) Saldent – International Dentistry Fair SALMED – International Trade Fair of Medical Equipment Salus – Prevention and Health Care Forum and Exhibition Sawo – International Fair of Work Protection, Rescue and Fire-Fighting Securex – International Security Exhibition Targi Obuwia, Skóry i Wyrobów Skórzanych – Fair of Shoes, Leather and Leather goods Surfex – Exhibition of Surface Treatment Technologies Świat Dziecka – Trade Fair of Goods for Children Taropak – International Packaging Technology and Logistics Exhibition TECHNOGAZ – Petroleum and Gas Salon ITM – POLAND – Exhibition Innovations-Technologies-Machines Tour Salon – Fair of Regions and Tourist Products Translog – Fair of Logistic, Transport and Shipping LTS Transporta – Exhibition of Logistics, Transport and Shipping Targi Upominków i Dekoracji Światecznych – Gifts and Ornaments Trade Fair Welding – Exhibition of Welding Technologies Notable architects of PIF buildings Hans Poelzig Roger Sławski Stefan Cybichowski See also 2008 United Nations Climate Change Conference Katowice International Fair, another large trade fair in Poland General National Exhibition in Lviv St. Dominic's Fair Targi Wschodnie Targi Północne Saint John's Fair, Poznań Bibliography Jerzy Topolski, Lech Trzeciakowski (red) Dzieje Poznania, tom II cz. 1 1793–1918, Warszawa-Poznań 1994, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe ISBN 83-01-11393-6 Jerzy Topolski, Lech Trzeciakowski (red) Dzieje Poznania, tom II cz. 2 1918–1945, Warszawa-Poznań 1998, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe ISBN 83-01-12401-6 Zbigniew Zakrzewski, Przechadzki po Poznaniu lat miedzywojennych wyd. II, Warszawa-Poznań 1983, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, ISBN 83-01-04696-1 External links Homepage (English version)