Scholarships may reopen from July 30, 2021

Provided that 70% of the adult population has received one dose of the vaccine, the occupancy in the intensive care unit is <500 patients and the number of hospitalizations has "evolved favorably." The decisions from this Consultation Committee will be published via a Ministerial Decree in the coming days.

Concretely, this means that Empack Mechelen can go ahead on October 27 & 28 in the Nekkerhal. Trade fairs, like last year, are covered by the trade protocol, just like hospitality and retail. This means that a specific protocol for trade fairs may still apply in fall 2021, separate from other events such as cultural events, sporting events or festivals. We are still waiting for an update on this protocol from the FPS Economy following the decisions made in the Consultation Committee of May 11, ll.

If any security measures are still in effect in the fall, we will always communicate this to you in a transparent and timely manner. We adapt all safety protocols that we have worked out over the past few months for all our event locations and our trade shows according to the provisions of the protocol. And of course we do everything we can to ensure that Empack runs safely. Both for you as an exhibitor and for all visitors and all parties involved.

Since March, three of our event locations (Flanders Expo Ghent, Nekkerhal Mechelen and Namur Expo) have been serving as vaccination centers, and since the end of May we have again been receiving more than 50,000 students from universities and colleges at Flanders Expo and Antwerp Expo. So we already have a lot of practical experience in applying these safety protocols. As Easyfairs Group, we have also entered into a cooperation agreement with SGS, a company that is internationally renowned for safety and its control. Concretely, this partnership means that our event locations and fairs are audited on a regular basis in order to guarantee a perfect follow-up of our safety and hygiene protocols.

We are looking forward to welcoming you and the visitors again in October. We are continuing the preparations - which we have obviously been working on for months behind the scenes - and are looking forward to Empack becoming the meeting point of the year for the packaging sector again after this crisis. It will undoubtedly be an unforgettable edition in every respect!

Leading up to the fair, we are hosting a kick-off webinar to explain all operational issues and any applicable security measures. You will receive an invitation to this shortly. If you have any questions in the meantime, please feel free to contact me.

Surveys we have conducted in recent weeks of visitors to many of our fall trade shows have shown that on average 85% of visitors are looking forward to revisiting a trade show, discovering innovations in their sector "live" and networking with their industry colleagues. Meanwhile, many of your fellow exhibitors also let us know that they would like to do business again soon at our trade shows.

We are already 200% ready and confident that together with you we will succeed in making Empack a successful edition.

See you soon,
Meanwhile, still keep it safe and sound.