The 12th annual PADDLEexpo will take place Sept. 28-30, 2014 in Nuremberg, with a packed hall. Show director Horst Fürsattel has filled every last inch of useable space in the 90,400-square-meter hall with booths from 136 exhibitors, up from 121 in 2013. In total, 271 brands will be on display compared with 263 last year.

Growing categories include the folding and inflatable boat segment, which are drawing a broader range of retailers, according to show promoters. Alongside the folding and inflatable boats, will be all of the traditional kayaks, canoes and stand-up paddling (SUP), as well as leisure boats, fishing kayaks and SUP boards, rental boats, paddle apparel and accessories.

In particular this year, there will be a wide offering of hardware exhibited. What professional attendees wont find in Nuremberg is swim fashion, flip-flops, sunglasses or the like.

The show will welcome 40 new exhibitors, including Spade Kayaks, which specializes in manufacturing especially lightweight whitewater PE blow-molded kayaks. At the fair for the first time is Vajda, a big name in competition boats. In the area of SUP, the U.S. brand Boardworks will be here for the first time, exhibiting at the booth of its distributor System X.

In the area of apparel, there will be additional first-time exhibitors worth a look too. Among them are SUP neoprene wetsuit brands Onda from Portugal, Stormm Ride from Poland, and On-Line from Slovenia. Among accessory brands: GSB Electric, a notable newcomer; and Fasten Systems, which specializes in holders for fishing rod and other equipment. In addition, one can find OEM suppliers, which manufacture under contract various brands of boats and gear.