EQUITANA Open Air in Mannheim successfully reopened the festival season from 6 to 8 August as one of the first events of this dimension. On all three days and for the two evening shows, a total of 18,100 visitors came to the spacious Maimarkt grounds - secured by a comprehensive hygiene concept. This means that the event set a new attendance record compared to the 2019 premiere, which was attended by 17,000 people.
The public experienced a varied programme of sport and show, training sessions and shopping offers with around 500 horses of different breeds and riders of different focuses. Highlights included the German Working Equitation Championships, the training evening with Kenzie Dysli and EQUITANA Open Air at night, which fascinated the audience as a Spanish summer night's dream.
The excitement about finally being able to go to an event again after more than one and a half years was clearly noticeable. "We are all passionate riders, are excited about the programme and are just happy that something like this is possible again," emphasised one visitor. She had come with her whole family to look and shop. The three friends who had come all the way from Bavaria also wanted to shop. "We have already bought saddle pads. We are definitely looking for halters and a riding pad and let's see what else is available." Around 100 exhibitors presented a wide range of products from trailers to clothing and feed to accessories.
"After not having been anywhere for more than a year and a half, it is wonderful to be back at a fair. We are happy about the customer contact and very satisfied with the visitor frequency," emphasised Christiane Wenchel, owner of Chriwen Womanly. "The event is very well positioned overall. We had very good discussions and our expectations were fully met," added Ludger Dettmaring, field sales manager at Equovis. For Robert Becker, EQUITANA Open Air is an ideal presentation area. "2021 was at least as successful for us as 2019. We wrote a lot of orders and sold our Humbaur trailers as far away as Brandenburg. Next time we will definitely be there again," assured the managing director of Anhängerwelt Becker.
The safety concept of registration, 3-G control, wearing masks and large distances in the area of the exhibition stands worked. "We are proud to have reopened the event season so successfully and, above all, safely with EQUITANA Open Air already in July in Neuss and now also in Mannheim. The health of all participants was our priority at all times," emphasises Barbara Leithner, Managing Director of the organiser RX Austria & Germany. "We felt the great enthusiasm of the people this weekend, who also travelled from neighbouring countries and sometimes came a long way. With EQUITANA Open Air in Mannheim we have sent an important signal and are overwhelmed by the great response we have received over the past few days," said Event Director Christina Uetz.
The next EQUITANA will be held at Messe Essen from 7 to 13 April 2022.
This is what the exhibitors say:
"We are very satisfied. EQUITANA Open Air in Mannheim exceeded our expectations. We met many new customers, the audience was very good and the turnover was also right."
Franziska Toffolo-Haupt, owner of Die Gewandmeisterei for horses
"It was a super weekend. We were here two years ago, but didn't have such high expectations this time because of the situation. But the event was well organised and surprised us in a totally positive way. The audience was very international, we had people from France, Luxembourg and Switzerland at our stand - that's really great."
Judith Pigorsch, owner Ponyschwester
"The event is very well set up overall. We had very good discussions, were well looked after by the EQUITANA team and our expectations were fully met."
Ludger Dettmaring, Field Sales Manager Equovis
"After not having been anywhere for more than one and a half years, it is simply wonderful to be at a trade fair again. We are happy about the customer contact and very satisfied with the visitor frequency. People are also all quite happy to finally be able to go to an event again."
Christiane Wenchel, owner Chriwen Womanly
"There was a lot of interest in our products and especially on Sunday it was very busy."
Elena Kempf, Marketing and Sales Bacher Products
"We said two years ago that we would be back and 2021 was at least as successful for us as 2019. We wrote a lot of orders and sold our Humbaur trailers as far away as Brandenburg. We will definitely be back next time."
Robert Becker, Managing Director Anhängerwelt Becker
"We did a lot of advertising in the run-up on social media and also wrote directly to our customers. This concept was a complete success. The customer response was huge and despite long queues, no one lost their good mood. We are all happy to be at an event again."
Nicole Reuter-Klawunde, owner of Klawunde Reitsport