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Didacta – The Education Trade Fair in Cologne, Germany

Name: Didacta – The Education Trade Fair in Cologne, Germany
Start: 2028-02-15T09:00:00+08:00
End: 2028-02-19T18:00:00+08:00
Location: Exhibition Centre Cologne
Rating: 4.5

Didacta

Dates: 2028.02.15-02.19Show Hours: 09:00-18:00

Venue: Exhibition Centre Cologne

Highlights: Europe’s largest and the world’s most renowned education equipment exhibition.

Standard booth|9 m² incl. basic setup

Blank booth|From 18 m², construction not included

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Didacta – The Education Trade Fair in Cologne, Germany

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Group tour

Duration8 days / 7 nights

Airport transferLocal receptionEntry badge4-star hotelBusiness mealsFull transportSightseeing

21000 CNY/person

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Exhibition Data

1/1
Edition

70000㎡
Exhibition area

729
Exhibitors

75000
Visitors

Cologne Education Expo Details

The Didacta education equipment exhibition in Cologne, Germany, is a globally renowned event in the education sector, bringing together exhibitors from 58 countries and regions and attracting approximately 75,000 visitors. The show covers educational equipment, digital teaching tools, educational software, educational media devices, and training solutions, showcasing cutting-edge technologies and innovative practices. As Europe’s largest education‑focused trade fair, its core value lies in connecting policymakers, educators, technology innovators, and industry representatives. With more than 2,000 forums, it fosters systematic discussions on key issues, making it an important platform for Chinese enterprises seeking to enter the European market.

Industry:: Education fair GermanyEducation fair CologneEducation Expo

Organizer:: Koelnmesse

City:: Germany Cologne

Venue:: Exhibition Centre Cologne

Address:: Koelnmesse GmbH, Messeplatz 1, 50679 Koln, Deutschland, Germany

Profile

Didacta, the Education Trade Fair in Cologne, Germany, is one of the world’s most renowned and long-standing events in the education field. Founded in 1951, it rotates annually among Stuttgart, Hanover, and Cologne, delivering tremendous impact and influence.

As one of the key international exhibitions for the education industry, Didacta showcases cutting-edge educational equipment, teaching technologies, and comprehensive solutions, including digital learning tools, educational software, educational media, instructional devices, and professional training programs. With exhibitors and visitors hailing from across the globe, it serves as a vital platform for presenting the latest innovations, sharing industry trends, and fostering collaboration.

At a time when education has become one of the most pressing topics of our era, Didacta offers a clear response. This premier European education fair brings together stakeholders from policy-making to classroom practice, from technology innovators to industry representatives, convening under the theme “Transforming Education: A Focus on the Future.” Here, an in-depth dialogue on the future of education unfolds.

This year’s edition attracted 729 exhibitors from 58 countries and regions, drawing approximately 75,000 attendees—a 20% increase over the previous year. Such growth reflects not only an expansion in scale but also a renewed confidence within the sector.

Yet what truly stands out is not merely the sheer number of participants, but the depth of discourse. Over 2,000 forums, seminars, and workshops were held, setting new records. Topics ranged from seamless transitions between educational stages to the intricate interplay among family, school, and society, progressively expanding toward systemic and long-term perspectives.

Didacta 2026 is more than just an exhibition—it functions as a central hub for the education sector, bridging policy and practice, linking technology with pedagogy, and uniting discussion with action.

In today’s climate of persistent uncertainty, education is assuming increasingly complex roles, and Didacta epitomizes this transformative shift. Moreover, Didacta represents one of the optimal trade platforms for Chinese educational equipment manufacturers seeking to enter the European market.

Didacta – The Education Trade Fair in Cologne, Germany tickets are e-tickets. Domestic and international visitors must complete online pre-registration with real-name passport verification. After purchase, the organizer verifies visitor identity. Visitors who do not meet entry requirements may need to submit additional documents. Once approved, you will receive email confirmation or a QR code. On site, present your original passport and confirmation letter to collect a paper badge, or scan the QR code to enter.

The Value of Participating in the Cologne Education Equipment Exhibition

The Cologne Education Equipment Exhibition (Didacta) is one of the world’s oldest and most authoritative events in the education sector. Since its inception in 1951, it has been held more than seventy times, evolving in tandem with advances in educational equipment and widely recognized as a global benchmark for educational technology development and a pivotal hub for the European education market.Organized by Messe Stuttgart, the exhibition rotates annually among Stuttgart, Hanover, and Cologne. Returning to Cologne in 2026, it serves as a strategic platform for connecting global education supply chains, showcasing cutting-edge technological innovations, and guiding industry trends.
The core value of participation lies in its unparalleled reach within the European market and its highly concentrated pool of professional buyers.The 2026 edition will take place from March 10 to 14 at the Koelnmesse International Exhibition Center, spanning approximately 70,000 square meters, bringing together 800 exhibiting companies and attracting 69,000 professional visitors. Ninety-nine percent of attendees are educators, trainers, school administrators, and education policymakers, representing Germany as well as Central, Southern, and Northern European countries, thus providing exhibitors with a direct gateway to Europe’s key purchasing decision-makers. The exhibition employs a professional ticketing system to ensure visitor quality, while organizers leverage comprehensive data collection processes to build detailed digital profiles of attendees, enabling exhibitors to target specific customer segments.
The exhibition offers a one-stop commercial platform covering the entire education value chain.Exhibits range from basic, higher, and vocational education technologies—including teaching instruments, IoT-based educational devices, virtual reality systems, educational robots, 3D printers, maker education tools, and practical training equipment—to interactive teaching aids such as electronic whiteboards, touch-all-in-one terminals, projection systems, and virtual simulation platforms. It also encompasses online education applications and services—such as e-learning platforms, recorded and live streaming systems, educational cloud technologies, and big data solutions—as well as smart campus construction, IT infrastructure, campus logistics management, safety initiatives, and smart early childhood products along with related supporting facilities. From digital teaching tools to traditional educational equipment, spanning everything from early childhood education to vocational training and lifelong learning, the exhibition forms a complete closed-loop educational ecosystem.
The exhibition aligns with three major industry trends—digital transformation, innovation in vocational education, and lifelong learning—establishing a robust technological hub that fosters deep integration among academia, industry, research, and end-users.Concurrent with the exhibition, specialized conferences such as the Education Leaders Forum and the Education Industry Innovation Forum, alongside various seminars, thematic forums, and special events, are held. At the 2024 edition, the German KENI Technology Education Group unveiled groundbreaking innovations including digital twin CNC simulation technology, Industry 4.0 smart factory solutions, and MakerSpace facilities, engaging in joint discussions with professors from the University of Mannheim and the Secretary-General of the Saxony-Anhalt Ministry of Education on pressing issues such as the digital transformation of vocational education examinations and the application of artificial intelligence. Experts unanimously agreed that seizing the significant opportunities presented by next-generation AI development requires leveraging AI technologies to enhance teaching and examination efficiency, thereby advancing the integrated development of educational technology talent.
For Chinese enterprises, this exhibition represents a strategic gateway to expanding into the European market, connecting with international resources, and showcasing innovative capabilities.At the 2022 edition, DJI Education, as the sole Chinese company with an independent booth, introduced educational robots and drone products, drawing substantial interest from visitors. The exhibition provides teachers, educators, and trainers with high-quality professional development programs, while representatives from government, business, academia, and civil society gather to jointly explore pathways for the future of education. Exhibiting companies can use this platform to access Europe’s core procurement networks and seize early opportunities in the digital transformation and intelligent upgrading of the global education equipment industry.

Range

Internationally Renowned Education Technology Brands: German KENI Technology Education Group, FESTO (a leading provider of vocational education equipment), HP (including Aruba network services), Promethean (an interactive learning enterprise, now under Chinese corporate control since 2015), Fischertechnik, and Austria’s Cool Tool Company (smart machine tool manufacturers)
Chinese Exhibiting Companies: DJI Education (educational robots and drones)

Review

The Didacta 2026 education equipment exhibition in Cologne, Germany, was successfully held from March 10 to 14, 2026, at the Koelnmesse International Exhibition Center. This edition of the show was themed “Transforming Education,” organized by Koelnmesse GmbH, and is Europe’s largest and most influential event in the education sector.

In terms of scale, the exhibition attracted 729 exhibiting companies from 58 countries and regions, with approximately 75,000 professional visitors—up 20% from the previous edition, marking a new historical high. Among them were 160 international exhibitors, and over 1,600 professional events—including forums, seminars, and workshops—were held throughout the duration. The event received support from the Ministry of Education and Schools of North Rhine-Westphalia. According to Oliver Frese, Chief Operating Officer of Koelnmesse, the high visitor numbers, strong satisfaction levels, and cross-sectoral attention once again solidified didacta’s position as a central platform for European education exhibitions.

This year’s exhibition featured numerous highlights, with AI and robotics emerging as key attractions. The RoboCup German Open took place during the event, where robots demonstrated their technological potential in competitive settings, further clarifying the vision of “the classroom of the future.” Meanwhile, the Second German Robotics Conference shifted the focus to industrial applications, sparking cross-disciplinary discussions on how AI and robotics can be effectively integrated into educational contexts. The German KENI Technology Education Group showcased innovative solutions such as digital twin CNC simulation technology and Industry 4.0 smart factory technologies. Oliver Heckemann, a member of KENI’s board of directors, attended a live lecture and joined professors from the University of Mannheim to explore cutting-edge topics like the digital transformation of vocational education examinations and the application of artificial intelligence.

A rich array of concurrent activities created a high-end platform for industry exchange. At booth D-021 in Hall 6.1, exhibitor erfi presented its elneos connect smart learning workstation, the elneos six laboratory equipment series, and the highlink Power central control system. Its tilting workstations enable seamless transitions between traditional classroom settings and hands-on experimental environments, reflecting the multifunctional demands of modern teaching spaces. Meanwhile, Promethean, at booth E31 in Hall 6, adopted the theme “Rethink the Ordinary” to showcase its ActivPanel 10 smart interactive whiteboard and the ActivSuite™ suite of teaching tools, emphasizing product durability and modular design to provide schools with long-term investment security.