PSI is back.

The largest promotional products trade show in Europe will be held as an in-person event for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Petra Lassahn, PSI

The show is on track to run from January 10 to 12, 2023, at the Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre in Germany, which is the largest national market for promo sales in Europe.

While the event is still a few months away, organizers announced this week that momentum is already surging, as the industry is keen to get together for a trade show that typically draws branded merchandise professionals from around Europe and beyond.

“The industry is giving full support to PSI,” said Petra Lassahn, director of PSI. “Over 60% of the hall space has been booked, and another 25% has been reserved. That’s an impressive 85% by the end of September – something that wasn’t always the case even before the pandemic.”

Organizers expect about 400 international exhibitors over the duration of the show. “Many of the big names will return to the European exhibition floor at PSI 2023,” Lassahn asserted.

Those include Fare, Halfar, Daiber, mbw and SND Porcellaine from the JCK Group, burgerpen, Victorinox (asi/93755), Reflects, Elasto (asi/51817), Heri-Rigoni, Neutral, Blooms Out of the Box, Stricker (asi/76459) and more.

“Already you can sense the positive mood, the excitement about the reunion and of course, the curiosity and excitement about what is yet to come,” said Lassahn. “There are numerous new products and exciting concepts on the market that finally want to be presented again on an international stage.”

The show will also place a sharp focus on sustainability and its relation to the promo industry. In addition to the PSI Sustainability Awards on the first night, there will be experts on hand to provide insights on topics like sustainable textile production, fair and ecological supply chains, eco-design, circular economy, recycling and upcycling, and seals, standards and certifications.

Organizers said that PromoTex and Viscom offerings will once again be integrated into the PSI show. “Finishing and printing techniques in the promotional products industry, as well as textiles and merchandising, remain an integral and very important part of the trade show,” Lassahn explained. “In 2023, these thematic focal points will be reflected in various special areas such as the Textile Village, the Textile Campus and the traveling exhibition ökoRAUSCH Wissenswelt.”

Another new feature is the “Special Show Finishing.” Here, experts in advertising technology and product and textile finishing – including Roland DG, Stahls’ (asi/88984), and others – will make current lettering and finishing techniques tangible. “Visitors at the trade show will be able to personalize a variety of products, from mugs to USB sticks, with their own hands,” said Lassahn.

COVID concerns led to the cancellation of PSI in 2022. It was held digitally in 2021.

Since the emphasis of the 2023 show is on in-person reunion, there will not be a “digital twin of the trade show event,” Lassahn said. “However, live streaming of the awards ceremony and a new edition of PSI TV are planned. Here we offer interesting discussions and hand-picked highlights of the trade show as well as the supporting program – broadcast live and available on-demand for our members after the trade show.”

The promo industry in North America got back to major in-person trade shows in the summer of 2021 with ASI Chicago. Merchandise World, the largest trade show for the United Kingdom’s promo industry, was back in person again starting in April 2022. A subsequent “peak season” Merchandise World was held in September, also in person.