Vinitaly 2020 cancelled

Vinitaly has officially announced today that it will not be holding an exhibition in 2020 for the first time in its 54-year history, but will be hosting a show on 18-21 April 2021.

Originally scheduled for 19-22 April this year, organiser Veronafiere announced on 3 March that it was postponing the show as well the various shows revolving around Vinitaly such as the International Wine Academy and Vinitaly and the City, until 14-17 June, due to the Coronavirus crisis gripping the country.

However, with the pandemic still rife in Italy – particularly northern Italy where the show is based – and worsening in parts of Europe such as the UK, it was inevitable that Vinitaly could not be staged even at the later proposed date in mid-June.

And today it became official, as Veronafiere released a statement around 1pm that the show in 2020 was cancelled, made in agreement with representatives of Vinitaly’s partner associations, which are listed below.

Not only will Vinitaly not be taking place in 2020, but neither will Sol&Agrifood and Enolitech shows, which are held in conjunction with Vinitaly, and have been rescheduled to 18-21 April 2021.

Commenting on the massive economic impact of Covid-19 for the exhibition business in Europe, president of Veronafiere, Maurizio Danese said that the cost would run into billions of euros.

He said, “We must bear in mind that this situation has a massively disruptive impact on the European exhibition industry. To date, more than 200 events have been rescheduled, with an overall loss of almost 6 billion euros and 51,400 jobs at risk, not to mention all businesses related to this industry and the loss of 39 billion euros in exports for SMEs in Europe generated by international trade shows.”

Meanwhile, CEO of Veronafiere, Giovanni Mantovani, said that once the health emergency in Italy caused by Covid-19 had subsided he would be embarking on a “renaissance” for the show, which he had thought would be possible in June this year.

He commented, “The health crisis, as everyone can see, has become distinctly worse and what seemed possible out the outset is no longer so now.”

Continuing he said, “In agreement with supply chain organisations, Vinitaly, Sol&Agrifood and Enolitech will therefore take place next year.”

He also stated his intention to grow Vinitaly’s international business and create a new event later this year for the show’s partner organisations.

“In addition to implementing special investments in international events such as Vinitaly Chengdu, Vinitaly China Road Show, Wine South America (23-25 September 2020), Vinitaly Russia (26 and 28 October 2020), Vinitaly Hong Kong (5-7 November 2020 ) and Wine To Asia (9-11 November 2020), as well as initiatives organised by the Vinitaly International Academy, we will be at the complete disposition of the sector and promotion system to consider the development of an innovative event next Autumn at the service of sector companies.”

The calendar for the main events organised directly by Veronafiere or third parties affected by changes is given below.

Vinitaly partner associations and their representatives include:

• Ernesto Abbona, President of the Italian Wine Union
• Riccardo Ricci Curbastro, President of Federdoc
• Riccardo Cotarella, President of Assoenologi
• Sandro Boscaini, President of Federvini
• Luca Rigotti, wine sector coordinator for Alleanza Cooperative
• Matilde Poggi, President of the Italian Federation of Independent Wine-Growers

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