The 33^rd edition of Cevisama, the International Fair for Architectural Ceramic, Bathrooms and Kitchens, Natural Stone, Raw Materials, Glazes and Colours, Frits and Machinery takes place at Feria Valencia from 9^th to 13^th February. Firmly established as the leading event for the industry, this year’s fair is set to be almost as big as last year’s even without the machinery element (which only forms part of Cevisama in even-numbered years).  A showcase marked not just by quantity but also by quality.

The fact is that the top brands in Spain’s ceramic tile, bathroom and natural stone sectors will be showing their potential to the world at Cevisama, revealing their most innovative and boldest creations.  There will be 682 companies exhibiting altogether, compared with 671 in 2013, which was a similar year in that it featured the same sectors.  Of these, 486 are Spanish and 196 are international companies from a total of 38 countries, with Italian manufacturers the most numerous after the Spanish.

As Cevisama’s director Carmen Álvarez explains, exhibitor numbers are up in all sectors this year, with the number of ceramic tile stands seeing a particularly marked increase.  The offering will be arranged as follows: ceramic tiles, bathrooms and natural stone are staying in pavilions 1, 2 and 4 on levels 2 and 3; pavilion 3 on level 2 will house the full offering of roof tiles and bricks, materials and tools, whilst raw materials, frits, glazes and colours for ceramic tiles will be in pavilion 3, Level 3.

More than 200 new products

The Cevisama exhibition takes up more than 100,000 square metres all told, affording visitors the opportunity to see the latest advances made by the industry, cutting edge products, new collections and the latest trends coming out of the leading technology companies. In fact and according to information provided to the organisers by the exhibitors, more than 200 new products will be launched at the fair.

Some of the new products that stand out are new floor and wall coverings that reflect the design and interior design trends of the moment.  A multitude of formats, new takes on rustic styles , a return to everything natural, to trim pieces that bring handcrafted tiles to mind,  warm interiors designed in a purist style and neutral colours, stony, aged and worn textures, all sorts of finishes and geometrical shapes (with hexagons amongst the most used), and different thicknesses that can be used to create volume are just some of the inventions the exhibitors are bringing to this year’s fair. All the novel designs are listed in  the Cevisama new products catalogue that  can be viewed on the fair’s website. Cevisama hopes that visitor numbers will rise beyond the 75,000 professionals who flocked to the last edition of the fair. 12,800 of that number were foreign buyers.

As part of the “Cevisama Business Club” programme the organisers have invited international specifiers and buyers to visit the fair from the markets identified as priority targets by the various trade associations.  All have been pre-qualified and are known to have purchasing power.  This year a significant effort has been invested in the traditional European markets, principallyFrance, Germany and the United Kingdom and also in the Eastern bloc, Russia, Asia, the Southern Cone.

“See you in Valencia”, the top architecture, interior design and design event

For the 2015 fair and given the success of the initiative last time round, Feria Valencia will be staging Cevisama over the same dates as  Feria Hábitat (furniture, lighting and home textiles). Added to these this year is the Maderalia Selección exhibition, which comprises exhibitors from the biennial Maderalia fair that offer innovative solutions for interior design projects.

These three exhibitions together with a considerable number of parallel events both within the exhibition venue and in the city comprise the “See you in Valencia 2015” initiative.  An initiative that will capture the attention of all professionals working in the fields of architecture, interior design and design.

One of the most notable events is the Workshop on “Financial assistance for renovation and refurbishment in domestic and other buildings and other financing for business enterprise” which is being organised by Ascer, Andimac and Cevisama to  make professionals aware of the finance options that are available in this field.  There will also be an International Contract Forum staged by IVACE Internacional in collaboration with the main trade associations.

Cevisama will also be hosting another “Trans-Hitos” show.  Titled “Synergies” this year it will again be displaying new uses for ceramic.  Calls for entries for the ceramic tile and bathroom design competitions that are part of Cevisama Lab have gone out and the  competition for the Alfa de Oro Awards has been launched too.  The architecture and Design Forum is being held again and will be featuring  top level speakers, all experts in their field.

Walking tours of the city have been arranged too, guided by architects, whilst many of the exhibitors are staging events on their stands.

The young designers show, “nude”, plus a series of working parties, lectures and ‘showrooms’ complete an extensive programme of educational and informative events centred on the world of interior design and design, enhancing and adding value to the fair.