What a shit show! The news just crossed the wire that the boot show in Düsseldorf has to be cancelled due to new restrictions by the government of North Rhine–Westphalia who just pulled to rug on all larger events for the month of January. This sadly also includes the boot show that was scheduled for 22. – 30. of January.
We have not received an official statement from the boot it self, but the live ticker on the German news channel WDR broke the news. We truly hope that the boot show does not get cancelled all together but rather postponed. In 2020 the boot was moved from January to April and but then had to cancel all together.
This is what the WDR wrote:
No major trade fairs in NRW in January – “boot” also cancelled
No major public trade fairs are allowed to take place in NRW in January. Also affected by the ban is the “boot” trade fair in Düsseldorf, which was scheduled to take place from January 22 to 30. The new regulation in the state’s Corona Protection Ordinance applies to “large public fairs with normally more than 750 visitors at the same time,” the NRW Ministry of Health announced this evening. The reason for the measure is the expected significant spread of the omicron variant.
It is not yet clear at what speed Omikron will spread, but action must be taken now. The country has already banned major sporting events with spectators because of it, he said. “It is only logical that no large public fairs with many visitors from different regions and countries from all over the world should take place in January either,” said Health Minister Laumann (CDU).
Düsseldorf’s Lord Mayor Stephan Keller (CDU) emphasized that it was of course regrettable that the Boot trade fair also fell under the ban. “However, I already agreed in advance with the management of Messe Düsseldorf not to take an unjustifiable risk and to cancel the Boot if necessary.”