March 18, 2020

ICFF, WantedDesign, Coverings, and HD Expo Announce Cancellations

In efforts to quell the spread of COVID-19, International Contemporary Furniture Fair, WantedDesign, Coverings, and HD Expo announced cancellations today. The wave of cancellations follows postponements by NYCxDESIGN and NeoCon earlier this week.

International Contemporary Furniture Fair

A look back at ICFF 2019: The Astra lounge chair by Cory Grosser for Bernhardt. Photography courtesy of Bernhardt. 

The International Contemporary Furniture Fair, scheduled for May 17-20 at the Javits Center in New York City, has been canceled due to recent travel restrictions and developments regarding COVID-19.

“These developments have made it impossible to effectively execute a May event that delivers the level of customer value our community expects,” ICFF officials said in a statement. “Driven by our responsibility to ensure the best interests of the ICFF community, we made the decision to cancel ICFF 2020. The next ICFF is scheduled for May 2021.”

Additional information will be posted to the ICFF website, when available.

WantedDesign

A highlight from last year’s WantedDesign Brooklyn: Architecture-trained and Caracas, Venezuela-native Rodolfo Agrella designed his Ara lighting collection in collaboration with French brand Procédés Chénel. Photography courtesy of Rodolfo Agrella.

In its tenth year, WantedDesign—including WantedDesign Manhattan, WantedDesign Brooklyn, and IC Design Festival—along with Industry City and ICFF-Emerald teams, announced the cancellation of May exhibits and programming. The announcement follows mounting concern regarding COVID-19.

“Following declarations of emergency at the national, NY state and New York City levels, and the growing escalation of the COVID-19 situation around the world and in the United States which directly impact many of our exhibitors and partners, we have concluded that we will not be able to deliver the quality show exhibitors and attendees expect and deserve,” Odile Hainaut and Claire Pijoulat, cofounders and directors of WantedDesign, said in a statement.

“We remain committed to fostering the Industry City design community and the industry at large, and are already working on creative ways to work with and support our network of partners, brands and design schools in the coming months,” they continued.  

Additional information and updates about WantedDesign Manhattan and ICFF-Emerald are available here

Coverings 

Earlier this year, Coverings celebrated its annual National Tile Day. Photography courtesy of Why Tile. 

Coverings, scheduled to take place April 20-23 in New Orleans, canceled its 2020 international tile and stone exhibition and conference after careful review of travel restrictions and recommendations by public health officials surrounding COVID-19. “The health and safety of our exhibitors and attendees are very important show priorities to Coverings,” said Jennifer Hoff, president of Taffy Event Strategies, the management company for Coverings. “Given the public health emergency we are currently facing, we believe the only action at this time is for Coverings 2020 to be canceled.”

But conference organizers expect programming for Coverings 2021, which will take place April 13-16 in Orlando, Florida, to be as robust as ever. “We ask for your patience and understanding during this time of uncertainty,” said Hoff. “Please monitor www.coverings.com, Coverings’ social media channels, and future press releases as we work toward a successful Coverings in April 2021.”

HD Expo + Conference

At HD Expo + Conference last year, Artistic Tile unveiled two new collections made in collaboration with award-winning textile designer Lori Weitzner including this Forest pattern in the Whisper colorway. Photography courtesy of Artistic Tile.

HD Expo + Conference, scheduled for May 5-7 in Las Vegas, has been canceled due to recent developments regarding COVID-19, including travel restrictions and emergency declarations at the national and Nevada state level.

“These developments have made it impossible to effectively execute a May event that delivers the level of education, connection, and customer value our community expects,” Stacy Shoemaker Rauen, Editor in Chief of Hospitality Design magazine, and Kevin Gaffney, group show director for HD Expo + Conference, said in a statement. “We hope you will join us for the next HD Expo + Conference, scheduled for May 4-6, 2021, where we will pull our great community together again and finally unveil the reimagined show we have been working on for the past year.”

Currently, the HD Expo + Conference team is investigating virtual and digital options to bring the hospitality and design community together. “We believe in this industry and know we will come away from this stronger and more united. In good times and challenging times, our industry is based on community, a fact we celebrate every day,” Rauen and Gaffney continued.

Please click here for a list of FAQs about the event.

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