Two editions a year: planning the trip to Riva
January and June for Expo Riva Schuh, February for Hospitality. What changes between editions, when to book, and how to organise a trip that lasts four days.
The Riva del Garda exhibition centre works all year, but for anyone travelling in, the three dates that matter are Expo Riva Schuh & Gardabags in January, Hospitality in February and the second Expo Riva Schuh in June.
They are three different trips, in three different seasons, in the same town. And there is one practical rule: during the fairs the upper lake fills up, and whoever books late sleeps far away.
January and June: the two Expo Riva Schuh.
Expo Riva Schuh is held twice a year, and the two editions are not the same fair at two moments.
The January one — 16 to 19 in 2027 — is the winter appointment, the one the industry arrives at with the plans for the year just started. It is the busiest, and the coldest: Riva in January is a mountain town on a lake.
The June edition presents the following season’s collections. The weather changes and so does the town around it: you work in the hall and step out in the evening with fifteen hours of daylight behind you. Anyone free to choose picks June for the weather and January for the volume of business.
Both sets of dates, like everything else, are in our events calendar.
February: Hospitality.
From 1 to 4 February 2027 the centre hosts the fifty-first edition of Hospitality — Il Salone dell’Accoglienza, one of Italy’s appointments for the hotel and catering industry. The 2027 programme looks to contract and wellness and to open-air tourism.
It is a fair people experience differently from the others: many visitors come for a single day and leave in the evening. The ones who stay the night work better the day after.
When to book.
For the January and February fairs, by the previous autumn. For June, by the winter.
This is not a sales line: the upper lake has a finite number of rooms, and the fairs take a large share of them. With ten keys, here the count closes earlier still.
How a four-day trip is organised.
Exhibitors arrive a day early to build the stand and leave on the last evening or the following morning: four or five nights.
What decides whether the week goes well is always the same: walking distance from the pavilion, a breakfast that starts early, a quiet place to sit and write in the evening, and parking included, so the car never becomes a daily problem.
The Business Hub page sets out how we work with exhibitors and groups.
Common questions.
Which trade fairs take place in Riva del Garda?
The main ones are Expo Riva Schuh & Gardabags, the international fair for volume footwear and leather goods, held twice a year in January and June, and Hospitality — Il Salone dell’Accoglienza, for the hotel and catering industry, in February.
When is Hospitality 2027 in Riva del Garda?
From 1 to 4 February 2027, at the Riva del Garda exhibition centre. It is the fifty-first edition, with a programme centred on contract and wellness and on open-air tourism.
What is the difference between the January and June editions of Expo Riva Schuh?
They cover different commercial seasons: January is the winter appointment and the busiest, while June presents the following season’s collections, in an entirely different climate and a different town.
How far ahead should you book for a trade fair in Riva del Garda?
For the January and February fairs, by the previous autumn; for the June one, by the winter. During fair days availability across the upper lake runs out.
