INTERVIEW PA D D L E S P O RT S S H O W LYO N
Paddle Sports Show made its debut in Lyon, France last summer, taking over directly from the previous PADDLEexpo. After a successful first show, establishing itself as THE European paddle event, show founder and organiser Philppe Doux has big plans for their 2022 edition, which he details here.
Please, can we have an overview of the show’s launch last year. The inaugural edition of the Paddle Sports Show last September went great, especially when you consider half of the world was still on lockdown and sanitary passes in place all over Europe. Not an easy time to launch a show to be sure, but the response has been amazing, making us even more excited for the 2022 edition this September 28th-30th.
which was evident all week, especially during our final party and awards night.
What are the planned highlights for 2022? Many! The products of the year award ceremony, conferences, and the Testival (a public day on the Rhône River, 200m from the show’s gates. We really try to create an ecosystem of events that come as an added value for exhibitors and visitors. While the trade show is not open to the public, paddlers Please give us some figures from the first show. can still test the new products exhibited during Last year, we had a 6500 m2 floor plan, 80+ the show; this is the whole concept behind exhibitors, and a little under 800 trade visitors. the Testival, which is free for exhibitors. The Testival also allows visitors who could not make it during the show to meet with exhibitors in a What were you most proud of last year? Probably the trust put in our hands by the whole more relaxed atmosphere. industry. Despite a rather difficult situation, to say the least, industry players showed they What’s new for the second edition? still strongly believe trade shows are essential Everything is new because everything will be for our industry, and they decided the Paddle bigger this year. The development of the Testival Sports Show, in Lyon, (France) was the best is a big one. For 2022, we are coordinating the place for it. We were thrilled with the location; Testival with the French Stand Up Paddling our exhibition hall is 200m from the riverbank, Championships and an international SUP race. ideal for on-water demos. Getting the world’s We already expect 300+ racers, including some biggest Paddle Sports industry players together of the best in the world. The goal is to have the under one roof was a challenge we’re proud Lyon Paddle Show Race become a key event on of, as was the satisfaction of all who attended, the European racing and event calendar, and 12
