History

Bolzano has a long tradition in the fair industry: the first evidence of commercial exchange with other regions of the Alps, both in Italy and abroad, dates back as far as 1070. The geographical location of the city and its unquestionable role as a bridge between Northern and Southern Europe have always encouraged commercial, economic and cultural relations with the neighbouring countries.
The first modern fair was held in 1948.

In the Seventies, thanks to the good economic situation, a phase of development started for the Bolzano Fair Organisation. The administrators, who were also pressured by the various economic boards of the Province, decided to enrich the programme of fair events and started a series of specialised exhibitions. This led to "Fiera Agricola" (i.e. "Fair for Agriculture") "Bolzano Hotel", "Tempo Libero" (or "Leisure Time") and "Ufficio-Büro", (i.e. "Office"). They were followed by "Mitea" in 1983 - which became "Bauschau", a specialised fair for the building sector and earth movements, in 1991 -, by "Lignomec" in 1984, a specialised fair for wood processing machines and products and by "Mostra d'Arte ed Antiquariato" (i.e. "Art and Antiques Exhibition"). "Arredo", a specialised fair for furniture and accessories, was set up in 1992 and "Alpitec", a specialised fair for alpine and winter technologies, followed in 1997. "Interpoma" - held for the first time in 1998 - is a European fair including the congress "The apple in the world: growing, storage and marketing".
"Prowinter", the first fair in Europe dedicated to those in the Winter sports profession has taken place for the first time in 2001.

The Bolzano Fair today

Today's programme of the Bolzano Fair includes 19 annual and biennial exhibitions, around 8 guest shows and 1 showroom the "Shoe Collection", devoted to the purchasing and presentation of spring/summer and autumn/winter shoe collections. Together, the events attract more than 220,000 visitors.
The special know- how in the sectors, tourism, agriculture and renewable energy that was developed in the region of South Tyrol in the past years is demonstrated with the trade fairs HOTEL, which was the first show that was held in the new exhibition building in 1998 and takes place together with Autochtona (Wine Forum) as well as Klimahouse (Trade fair for energy efficient construction), Klimaenergy (Trade fair for renewable energies) and Interpoma (International trade fair for apple growing, storage and marketing). Since winter sport has a long tradition in South Tyrol, Fiera Bolzano has a special focus on this topic with three successful fairs, Prowinter, Alpitec and Alpitec China, which took place for the first time together with ISPO China.
The most visited public fairs are the Tempo Libero and the Autumn Fair which offer a great variety of products for leisure activities. Since 2008 the health fair Healthy & Vital is organized together with the Autumn Fair and is seen as a great success. 

The successful fairs Baumec (Construction machinery trade fair), Viatec (Street construction and infrastructure development trade fair) and Lignomec (Wood production trade fair), which are presented in every uneven year together as the "Constructin-Fair-Trio" as well as Agrialp (Alpine agricultural trade fair), Civil Protect (Civil Protection and Emergency trade fair), China Rescue Expo which will for the first time bring the concept of the Civil Protect to the Chinese market in March 2010, Biolife (Trade fair for biological products), Arredo (Furniture trade fair), Kunstart (International fair for modern and contemporary art)  and Futurum (South Tyrolian educational fair), round up the programme of the Fiera Bolzano.

 The new fair area in Bolzano
The area of the new Fair covers five hectares and is located in the business district of Bolzano South. It can easily be reached from the national road, the motorway and the railway (trains stop just in front of the Fair, on the Bolzano/Merano line), as well as from the airport, inaugurated on 28th March 1999.
The premises, including the exhibition area and the attached service centre, cover an area of 40,000 m2. If needed, a further 5,000 m2 of the nearby "Palaonda" multifunctional structure - also belonging to the large Fair area - can be used. The new Fair is a complete and complex structure, able to meet the most demanding needs in the exhibition, congress and leisure sectors. The centre can operate all year round, thus enhancing the value not only of the main town but of the entire Province and its economy.
800 cars can be parked on the roof of the single, large pavilion. Further 500 cars can be parked in an underground garage along via Marco Polo, the street which faces the main entrance of the Fair area, located in "No. 1, Piazza Fiera".
The service centre occupies four floors and hosts the congress rooms, the showrooms, the restaurants, the police and firemen posts, the first-aid unit, the bank, shops, cash-desks, the desks where visitors and exhibitors can register and the offices of the Fair Organisation.
The new Bolzano Fair was officially inaugurated on September 12th, 1998, when the "Fiera Internazionale d'Autunno" (i.e. International Autumn Fair) was held.
In September 2003 the international hotel "Four Points Sheraton" opened at the service centre of the Fiera Bolzano.
On August 13th 2007 the 1.800 photovoltaic modules at the roof of the Fiera Bolzano with an area covering 2.400 square meters were put into operation. In December 2009 this number doubled to 4800 square meters!

Bolzano, January 2010