Following the recent move to cancel its newly-renamed Finest Audio Show, Zurich, High End Society, the organising body of the shows, has announced that it has moved High End Munich 2021 to being held at MOC between 9th-12th September 2021. 

At the end of September, invitations were sent out to the High End 2021, which was scheduled for May. Even though many in the industry have been cautious as to saying whether-or-not it would actually go ahead then, we are told that the High End team has been continuously receiving bookings ever since. 

However, trade show participants have been expressing growing concerns regarding the new significant increase in Coronavirus cases worldwide. Furthermore, strict travel and quarantine requirements are causing exhibitors from outside Germany, in particular, to hesitate given that they cannot yet foresee when these restrictions will be lifted.

The official press release states:

By choosing these later dates, the organiser of the event, the HIGH END SOCIETY SERVICE GmbH, is taking a massive step towards a successful relaunch of the trade show and also increasing planning reliability for all parties involved.

Additionally, the new OEM show IPS will also move to September and will take place from 9th to 10th September 2021 in the MOC Munich alongside the HIGH END.

Managing Director Stefan Dreischärf, told StereoNET: 

We are gaining four months, which will provide our clients from outside of Germany in particular with more time to reliably plan their participation.

The latest news regarding a highly promising vaccine has now increased the likelihood that the spread of the coronavirus will slow down significantly and Dreischärf is optimistic, stating:

In light of this positive prospect, there's every reason to believe that the effects of immunisation will be much more prominent in the late summer of 2021 than in May. We, therefore, expect that by then, virtually no more limitations will apply to international travel.

Also, the later dates of the event should make planning easier for exhibitors and visitors from outside Germany, especially with more scope for decision-making until the new registration deadline at the end of March 2021.

IMPACT

While this might be great news for High End Munich as a huge global draw for brands, manufacturers, distributors and hi-fi fans, it might put smaller shows in the shade that are already hoping to open their doors in late summer and early autumn.

Furthermore, many manufacturers align their new product releases with the High End Munich show. Moving the show to September will surely but many such announcements 'out of whack'? Also, if there is a glut of shows all within the same quarter, exhibitors are going to find it logistically difficult to attend them all.

That said, we have seen many shows cancel, reschedule, and cancel again this year already. Nobody predicted how 2020 was going to turn out and, at this point, we're trying to remain optimistic about 2021.