Photokina is a trade fair held in Europe for the photographic and imaging industries. It is the world's largest such trade fair. The first Photokina was held in Cologne, Germany, in 1950, and since 1966 it has been held biennially in September at the Koelnmesse Trade Fair and Exhibition Centre in Deutz. The final Photokina under the then-current biennial cycle took place in 2018. Initially, the promoters planned to start a new annual cycle in 2019, with future shows to be held in May, but they later decided not to begin the new annual cycle until 2020. The worldwide outbreak of the Coronavirus disease 2019 and its effect on the imaging industry made Koelnmesse decide to cancel both Photokina 2020 and Photokina 2021. Many photographic and imaging companies introduce and showcase state of the art imaging products at Photokina.
Photokina event space in 2016
South Entrance of the Cologne Trade Fair during Photokina 2008
A trade show, also known as trade fair, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and customers, study activities of rivals, and examine recent market trends and opportunities.
Stands during MWC Barcelona 2019, a trade show for the mobile communications industry in Barcelona, Spain
IBM stand during CeBIT 2010 at the Hanover Fairground, the largest exhibition ground in the world, in Hanover, Germany
A small trade show in Croatia, with the exhibition booth of the Croatian Chamber of Economy
The large format work that can be done at international trade shows