Atlanta – Reed Exhibitions is expanding its international EQUITANA brand of riding industry shows to the U.S. next year.
EQUITANA USA premiers in two stages, beginning with the EQUITANA Open Air Festival on October 20-22, 2017 at an equestrian center in Temecula, CA. Temecula is well known for its bucolic wineries and is also in a popular “horse country” region that includes the Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego markets. The second half of the debut takes place October 4-7, 2018 with the launch of EQUITANA USA – The Equestrian World’s Fair in Building C of the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.
The show’s ground game in the U.S. will be managed by EQU Expo LLC of Illinois. General Manager Robert Keegan will serve as show director with trade show veteran Bill Sell handling sales and marketing. “EQUITANA USA will become a landmark event – one created with vision and purpose, which markets the future of equestrian sports,” Keegan said. “It is our responsibility as the show producer to set forth practical, professional and socially correct themes in order to awaken new interest and markets centered on the horse.”
Reed also organizes EQUITANA Australia, which ran November 17-20, 2016 in Melbourne. The expansion to the U.S. is aimed at replicating the success of the flagship event EQUITANA, which is held biennially in Essen, Germany. The last show in 2015 drew 208,000 trade and consumer attendees. The event also included 850 exhibitors from 30 nations and sold out 17 exhibit halls at Messe Essen.
“EQUITANA is a fixture and one of the most famous brands in equestrian sports,” said Hans-Joachim Erbel, CEO of Reed Exhibitions Deutschland GmbH. “We are convinced that EQUITANA USA will be a success; the North American market offers ideal conditions.”
Reach Bob Keegan at (630) 453-5529 or bob@equitanausa.com; Hans-Joachim Erbel at +49 211 90191-262 or hans-joachim.erbel@reedexpo.de.
