The Photography Show 2020 here in the UK was only five days away from opening. Until this very morning, it seemed that all was still going ahead as planned, but now it seems that the show has been postponed until September.
According to an email sent to exhibitors, and sent to us anonymously, The Photography Show is being postponed due to the ongoing and growing spread of coronavirus in the UK and the rest of the world. A copy of the statement is below.
Update: 11th March, 2020 – The new dates for The Photography Show & The Video Show have been announced for 19-22nd September, 2020 at the NEC in Birmingham, England. Scroll to the bottom of this post for the complete update.
This is an evolving story, scroll down for updates.
Official Statement – Exhibitors
Important update – The Photography Show & The Video Show has been postponed until September
To date, The Photography Show & The Video Show has been following Government guidelines regarding the continuation of our event surrounding the outbreak of Coronavirus. However, as the news has been progressing we have listened to the concerns from all parties, around running the show in the current environment.
The wellbeing of our visitors, exhibitors, speakers and staff is of the utmost importance, we have therefore taken the extremely difficult decision to postpone. We are truly sorry and hope you understand that we have had no choice but to take this difficult decision, we appreciate that this will have a huge knock on effect for everyone concerned. We are now working through the ramifications of this unprecedented situation.
Please bear with us while we try to establish new dates. We will be in touch with all our exhibitors as soon as we have more information.
We have compiled a list of FAQs here to answer any concerns you may have.
Message from The Photography Show, Head of Events;
‘We are incredibly disappointed that we’ve had to take this action so close to the event opening. However, it became clear that the recent acceleration in Covid19 cases in the UK has led to heightened concerns for all participants and the show would be negatively impacted from all perspectives should we have proceeded. We understand how important the show is both from an industry and community point of view so we are pleased that we are able to postpone to September when we are hopeful that the threat of Covid19 will have significantly rescinded. Please bear with us while we make all the necessary arrangements to facilitate this move and contact all participants’.
This is going to be a major blow to both the exhibitors and the attendees both based in the UK as well as those coming from abroad who may now not be able to see any kind of refund on their travel or accommodation costs for the duration of the show.
Update #1: It’s official. A tweet was just posted to The Photography Show Twitter account stating that the show has been postponed until September 2020 and to see the website for more information.
We have been closely following government advice for the past weeks, yet we recognise the concerns many of you have regarding Coronavirus. Your safety is our utmost concern & as a result we've decided to postpone this year’s events until September. pic.twitter.com/ST52PWP8gC
— The Photography Show (@ukphotoshow) March 9, 2020
The website, however, currently still shows the update from earlier today stating that the show is still going ahead as planned.
Update #2: I have just received the official statement for press directly from The Photography Show.
A STATEMENT FROM THE ORGANISERS OF THE PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW AND THE VIDEO SHOW:
It is with regret that the organisers of The Photography Show and The Video Show, which was planned to take place at the NEC from 14-17 March 2020, have announced both events will be postponed until September 2020 following the escalation of COVID-19 in Europe.
Speaking about the announcement, Jonny Sullens, Head of Events at Future, said: “To date, we have been following government guidelines regarding the continuation of our event during this unprecedented outbreak of Coronavirus. As the news has been progressing, we have listened to the concerns of all parties. And today we have taken the extremely difficult decision to postpone The Photography Show and The Video Show until later in the year.
“We are incredibly disappointed to take this action so close to the event opening, however the wellbeing of our visitors, exhibitors and staff is of the utmost importance. We understand how important the show is both from an industry and community point of view, and postponing until September 2020, when we hope the threat of COVID-19 will have significantly reduced, will allow us to deliver the show everyone deserves.
“We are now working through the ramifications of this challenging situation and thank everyone for their support during this difficult time.”
The new event dates will be announced in due course. Tickets can be transferred to the new show date or a refund will be given – The Ticket Factory will be in touch in due course with more information. For updates, please visit the event website: https://www.photographyshow.com/
Update #3: Emails are being sent to those who had registered to attend the show. The included statement is essentially the same as the exhibitor statement above, but with a list of Frequently Asked Questions for visitors at the bottom.
FAQs
Q – The show has been postponed, will I need to register again for the new dates?
A – Good news, your badge will be valid for the September show so you don’t need to do anything.
Q – I have bought Extras (Masterclass tickets, Super Stage tickets, Workshop tickets), will I be issued a refund?
A – All Super Stage and Workshop tickets will be automatically refunded. Masterclass tickets will remain on your order unless you request for them to be refunded.
Q – Will the programme and exhibitors be the same for the postponed show?
A – We will aim to keep the programme the same where possible, subject to speakers being available for the new dates. We also hope that the exhibitor list will remain much the same.
Update #4: The Photography Show has updated its coronavirus status page.
This is currently an evolving story. We will update this article as we hear more, so keep checking back.
Update: 11th March, 2020 – The new dates for The Photography Show & The Video Show have been announced for 19-22nd September, 2020 at the NEC in Birmingham, England.
Having postponed this year’s event earlier this week, the organisers of The Photography Show & The Video Show are pleased to announce that the event will now run from 19-22 September 2020 at the NEC, Birmingham.
The UK’s leading photography and moving image event, which attracts both professional and aspiring photographers and filmmakers, will retain all of its planned feature areas, including the new Analogue Spotlight and Shutter Street, as well as its sought after Super Stage, Photo Live, Drone Zone x Action Arena and Behind the Lens features.
Speaking about the announcement, Jonny Sullens, Head of Events at Future, said: “We were incredibly disappointed to postpone this year’s event so close to it opening. However, the vast majority of the comments we have received from visitors, exhibitors and speakers prove that it was the right decision given the circumstances.
“We have been working closely with the NEC over the last few days and are delighted to be able to confirm the new show dates so quickly. We thank the venue for its support, and everyone associated with the show for their patience during this unprecedented, difficult time.
“Our aim is to ensure the UK photography and filmmaking communities do not lose this event for another year. We know how much value is placed on the educational aspects of the event, as well as the opportunity to get hands on with the latest equipment, and it’s important that we give visitors a chance to do that in 2020.”
In light of this news, discussions around the timing of the 2021 events are on-going and dates will be announced in due course.
All existing tickets for the 2020 events will be transferred to the new dates, and more information regarding refunds can be found on the event website: https://www.photographyshow.com/
Assuming The Photography Show does go according to the new plans, we may find that September becomes the new date for The Photography Show each year. After all, that month has now freed up now that Photokina has shifted from September to May, and TPS won’t want to make the same mistake that Photokina did by scheduling a show only a few months after the previous one.
Of course, if the September show ends up getting postponed again, too (and it’s way too far out to be able to guess one way or the other), then The Photography Show 2021 might just revert back to the usual annual March schedule.
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