LodgEvent lists 9 events in Nurnberg, Germany, including Chillventa 2026, it-sa 365 and SPS Nurnberg 2026. Upcoming dates run from 13 October 2026 to 20 January 2028. Browse dates, venues and nearby hotels for each event below.

Nuremberg Trade Fairs & Business Events — Visitor Guide

Nuremberg is the German fair city that punches furthest above its weight. Bavaria's second city hosts an unusual concentration of events that lead their sectors worldwide — and it does so on a compact, efficient site with its own underground station ten minutes from the centre.

LodgEvent lists 9 events in Nurnberg across 1 venues, with Messe Nürnberg hosting 9 of them. The strongest sectors here are Manufacturing & Engineering, Technology and Home & Interior.

The list of global leaders held here is longer than the city's size suggests: Spielwarenmesse, the world's largest toy fair; BIOFACH for organic food; embedded world for embedded systems; interzoo for pet supplies; IWA OutdoorClassics for hunting and outdoor equipment; FachPack for packaging; Chillventa for refrigeration; BrauBeviale for beverage production; SPS for industrial automation. Several of these have no serious international rival anywhere.

The toy fair is not an accident of scheduling. Nuremberg has been a centre of toymaking for over 600 years, and Spielwarenmesse grew directly out of that tradition.

The venue

NürnbergMesse offers 180,000 m² of gross exhibition space across 16 halls, plus up to 50,000 m² outdoors, with three convention centres (NCC East, Mitte and West) holding up to 12,800 delegates between them.

The site's real advantage is its layout. NürnbergMesse states that visitors can reach any point on the grounds on foot within ten minutes — and unlike some claims of this kind, the compact design supports it. After Hannover or Munich, where hall-to-hall walks eat into your day, this is a noticeable relief. A wayfinding system called myLocation provides real-time orientation inside the halls.

Two halls are worth noting for their own sake: Halls 3A and 3C were designed by Zaha Hadid and opened in 2014 and 2018. Beyond the architecture, both hold DGNB Platinum certification for energy efficiency — the German Sustainable Building Council rates them without comparable equivalent among exhibition halls worldwide. If sustainability credentials matter to your exhibiting decisions, this is a genuine differentiator.

Getting there

By U-Bahn: The grounds have their own station, simply called Messe, on line U1. It connects to the city centre and the main railway station in about ten minutes. This is as straightforward as German fair access gets — no changes, no shuttle, no walk from a distant stop.

From Nuremberg Airport (NUE): Also on the U-Bahn network, roughly 25 minutes to the fairground. The airport is small and handles mostly European routes, so long-haul visitors often arrive via Munich or Frankfurt and continue by train.

By long-distance train: Nuremberg Hauptbahnhof sits on the high-speed line between Munich and Berlin, with direct ICE services from Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt and Hamburg. From the station it is ten minutes on the U1.

There are around 13,500 parking spaces on site if you drive, but with a direct underground line there is little reason to.

Tickets and public transport

Nuremberg sits within the VGN transport network. Whether your admission ticket includes travel varies by event, as it does across Germany — check your event's travel page rather than assuming.

If it does not, a VGN day ticket covers the U1 to the fairground and the city centre. Given the ten-minute journey, this is a small cost either way.

Where to stay

The fairground is in Langwasser, a residential district southeast of the centre. Because the U1 links the two so directly, staying centrally costs you almost nothing in convenience.

• Altstadt (the old town): The clear default. Nuremberg's walled medieval centre is compact, full of restaurants, and ten minutes from the halls by U-Bahn. Better in every respect than staying near the venue.
• Around Hauptbahnhof: Directly on the U1, convenient for onward trains, and generally better value than the old town.
• Langwasser (near the grounds): Walking distance to the halls, useful for exhibitors during build-up. Little else there.
• Along the U1: Anywhere on this line works. Prioritise a direct connection over raw distance.

A warning specific to Nuremberg: Spielwarenmesse draws exhibitors and buyers from 150 countries into a mid-sized city, and accommodation near the venue runs short well in advance. The same applies to BIOFACH and embedded world. Nuremberg does not have Berlin's hotel depth — book early, and consider Fürth or Erlangen, both a short train ride away, if the city is full.

December is the other pinch point. The Christkindlesmarkt is one of the most famous Christmas markets in the world and fills the city through Advent. If your event falls in late November or December, hotel demand will be higher than the fair alone would suggest.

Entry requirements — what changed in 2026

Since April 2026, the EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) has been fully operational at Schengen external borders. Non-EU travellers now have fingerprints and a facial image recorded on first entry, replacing passport stamping. The rollout has produced significant queues at several airports — allow extra time at passport control, particularly on your first trip since it launched. Subsequent entries are quicker once your biometrics are registered.

ETIAS, the pre-travel authorisation for visa-exempt nationalities, has not launched yet. Its 2026 target was dropped and it is now expected in 2027. You do not need it currently, but verify before travelling — the date has moved repeatedly.

If you require a Schengen visa, apply well ahead. Nuremberg's fairs draw heavily from Asia — the toy and pet supply trades in particular — and appointment demand rises accordingly.

Practical notes

Nuremberg is in Bavaria, which observes more public holidays than other German states. Several fall on dates that surprise visitors, and shops close on them as well as on Sundays. Check the Bavarian calendar if your trip includes a free day.

The old town is genuinely walkable and worth an evening — the castle, the walls and the market square are all within a few hundred metres of each other. Local specialities are Nürnberger Rostbratwürste, unusually small grilled sausages served in threes, and Lebkuchen gingerbread.

The city carries significant twentieth-century history, and the former Nazi party rally grounds lie near the exhibition centre in the same southeastern district. The Documentation Centre there is a serious museum rather than a curiosity, and it is open to visitors if you have time and interest.

Activity here concentrates in January, February and October. Next up is Chillventa 2026 on 13 October 2026.

Comparing German fair cities? See the Germany overview for how Nuremberg, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Munich, Hannover, Berlin and Hamburg differ on access, tickets and timing.