The decision, we have been told from Hong Kong, was made, first and foremost, having consulted the organisers of the main exhibitions in the sector, starting from Lineapelle. This procedure was deemed necessary in order to avoid any “overlaps or clashes that might be generated” by bringing forward APLF, the event scheduled for March 2018 and 2019. Indeed, Asia Pacific Leather Fair has announced that in 2017 the fair will take place, as it has done for more than 3 decades now, at the end of March, from 29 to 31, while in the next two years it will be brought forward two weeks: from 14 to 16 in 2018 and from 13 to 15 March in 2019, in both cases starting on a Wednesday and ending on a Friday. A piece of news that goes against the current trend of postponing the dates of exhibitions, indeed confirmed by the recent announcement by Lineapelle, which has rescheduled the next 2017 Autumn edition to October, from 4 to 6. The Hong Kong organisers believes that the new dates will turn out to be “convenient and well-received”, explaining that the decision was also made in a bid to avoid organising the fair too close to Easter in the west. Indeed, in 2018, Easter falls on 1 April, whereas in 2019 it would have had no negative effects on the organisation or logistics of the event, as it falls on 21 April.
APLF goes against the trend: from 2018 Hong Kong will step forward two weeks and, after 30 years, move to the middle of March
