Contrary to general expectations, the IFA in Berlin will continue as a ‘physical’ fair, but tightly controlled and restricted. And a lot shorter than normally.
To the surprise and amazement of many, the IFA organisation has announced that this year’s fair will be held in a physical form after all. This is striking, because to visit a large mass event now, is perhaps not the smartest action. In contrast to previous years, however, this time the festivities last not six but only three days. At the same time, only a maximum of 1000 people per day are allowed to visit, so, that’s 3000 in total.
Furthermore, the ‘normal’ public is not welcome, it will be purely an event for brands and manufacturers to show their stuff to the media. Maybe we will check to see if we can get in; it will be an unreal experience; that’s for sure.
Sensible?
There are strict controls on who goes in, and ‘social distancing’ is also arranged. The question that arises is: is this a sensible move? You are going to gather a lot of people from different countries in one place. As far as we are concerned, you don’t have to have a panic-stricken fear of COVID, but consciously looking for people at risk is the other extreme.
More practical might have been an entirely virtual event. And that should remain so until everyone has been vaccinated. On the other hand: it could still take a couple of years before that happens. And companies also want to continue promoting new stuff and keep the economy running. Well, we’ll have to wait and see what happens on the planned 3 to 5 September. Maybe by then the expected autumn outbreak has already started and the first steps for a new lockdown have already been taken.
Currently, planning far ahead does not provide any certainties. So don’t be surprised that the entire IFA will be cancelled at the last minute. In Cornona-times fairs are not really wise to visit.
