IFA 2020 in doubt with German events ban set to be extended

The German government’s plans to extend its ban of large events through to the end of October has cast fresh doubts over September’s IFA.

The ban was originally set to end on August 31 but, according to an official government document seen by news agency AFP, this is set to be extended to the end of October with the possibility of it being extended until 2021.

German chancellor Angela Merkel is set to present this plan to the premiers of the 16 states on Wednesday.

The country began relaxing its lockdown measures at the beginning of May, but the ongoing threat of the coronavirus pandemic has evidently been enough to mean that events are unable to resume.

This then has cast doubts over the staging of IFA 2020, which had already been announced in a reduced form.

IFA had been announced as a ‘special edition’ to take place on September 3-5 as an invite-only event. The organiser Messe Berlin said that there would be strict limits on the number of attendees and that the event has been developed in close collaboration with German health authorities.

The event is currently set to be broken down into four smaller showcases: the IFA Global Press Conference; IFA NEXT meets IFA SHIFT Mobility, focused on cutting edge technologies; IFA Global Markets for OEMs and ODMs; and IFA Business, Retail & Meeting Lounges.

Should the current ban be upheld with no amendments, it is unlikely that IFA would be able to go ahead even in its reduced form. The organiser said last week that more than 800 journalists alone would be in attendance.

Messe Berlin is yet to comment on the news. Digital TV Europe has reached out to the organiser for comment.