Imaging World Moves to Cologne for 2027 – Koelnmesse Takes Over, photokina Name Returns

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by Johnnie BehiriToday

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The Imaging World festival is leaving Nuremberg after two editions. From 2027, Koelnmesse will run it in Cologne as “Imaging World inspired by photokina”, bringing the photokina name back to its old home six years after the show was shelved, although both partners insist this is not a relaunch.

The Cologne premiere is scheduled for September 24 to 26, 2027, on the Koelnmesse exhibition grounds. RINGFOTO and Koelnmesse announced the move during the TIPA World Awards ceremony at this year’s Imaging World in Nuremberg. Koelnmesse takes over as organizer from 2027, while RINGFOTO, the Fürth-based photo retail cooperative that created the event, stays on as what the announcement calls a central partner. It contributes its market knowledge, its ties to manufacturers and specialist retailers, and core elements of the existing concept.

Anyone who has been in this industry for more than a few years will read that name twice. We reported in 2020 that photokina had been suspended until further notice, after the 2019 edition was cancelled and the 2020 edition fell to the pandemic. The last show, in September 2018, drew 180,000 visitors from 127 countries and 812 exhibitors, according to Koelnmesse. It mattered for filmmakers too: that was the show where Panasonic unveiled the LUMIX S1 and S1R and the L-Mount alliance, and two years earlier we walked the same halls asking whether medium format video was coming.

A much smaller show than the one it references

Imaging World is a young event. It first ran in October 2025 at NürnbergMesse, where RINGFOTO counted more than 13,000 visitors, over 100 exhibitors and around 12,000 m² (roughly 129,000 sq ft) of floor space. The second edition, held in Nuremberg’s Hall 12, drew more than 120 brands, including Canon, Sony, Nikon, Leica, FUJIFILM, Panasonic and Sigma, according to the organizer.

Set against photokina’s final edition, that is less than a tenth of the attendance. The comparison is useful mainly because it shows how different the two formats are. At its peak, photokina was the global stage where camera manufacturers timed their biggest announcements. Imaging World grew out of a retailer network and is built around trying gear before buying it.

RINGFOTO managing director Thilo Röhrig said in the announcement that the two Nuremberg editions had shown how much interest there is in a place where products can be “experienced and tried out” directly (our translation from the German). The format combines a conventional exhibition with interactive “playgrounds” and a program of workshops and seminars, and the partners say they intend to develop exactly that mix further in Cologne.

Photography stays at the center, but the topic list is wider than the name suggests. Video, audio, lighting, software, printing, smartphone applications and content production technology are already part of the event, and the organizers plan to expand them. Manufacturers, distributors and brands are meant to meet specialist retailers, professional users, enthusiasts and content creators in one place.

Why the organizers avoid the word relaunch

The press text is careful on this point. It acknowledges that photokina shaped the international photo and imaging industry for almost seven decades, then states that the new event is no new edition of the former world fair. It remains an independent format that draws on the location’s imaging tradition and brings new content with it.

The market those contacts belong to looks different today. Camera shipments have returned to growth, and CIPA’s figures for the first half of 2026 show flat unit numbers but rising value. At the same time, manufacturers have spent the years since 2018 building their own launch streams and brand events, FUJIFILM’s Fujikina among them. The announcement makes no claim that product launches will return to Cologne. It talks about developing the format and expanding its visibility step by step.

What Cologne adds

Koelnmesse argues that the city offers trade fair infrastructure, international accessibility and a strong media and creative industry. The announcement also points to Cologne’s universities and training institutions and to an active photo, video and content creator community, which the partners want to bring into the program gradually.

That includes activity outside the halls. Selected photowalks and community formats across the city are planned for the longer term, though without dates or details so far.

The late-September slot will feel familiar: photokina 2018 ran from September 26 to 29. For video, audio and lighting brands, it also lands shortly after IBC, which traditionally occupies mid-September in Amsterdam. Whether those companies treat a consumer-facing festival in Cologne as a complement to a B2B show or as a competing line in the same month’s budget is one of the open questions.

Dates and tickets

The first Imaging World inspired by photokina takes place from September 24 to 26, 2027, at Koelnmesse in Cologne. Program details, participating companies, and ticket offers have not been published yet; the organizers say these will follow at a later stage. For more information, please visit the Imaging World website.

Did you attend photokina in its day, and would a smaller, hands-on festival bring you back to Cologne? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!