Europe's biggest show for the creative community is bringing together international exhibitors, stars, influencers and all kinds of creative minds between 15 and 19 March 2023 as CREATIVA opens to the public at Messe Dortmund offering amateur and freelance artists, teachers, students and self-employed people everything they need for their creative crafts. On the weekend of the show, CREATIVA will be joined by international cake show CAKE & BAKE (18 and 19 March). As well as a large selection of materials and design products available for purchase, visitors will be able to learn all about the latest trends and techniques at special exhibition features, in workshops and on the event stages. This year's show kicks off for the first time with a trend report entitled 'Creative Trends 2023'. Well-known artists such as Janine Heschl, 'Plottertante' (the plotter girl), Marit and Mark (a.k.a. 'Make ma!' at CREATIVA), Ross Antony and the stars of TV bake-off 'Das Große Backen' will reveal exclusive tips and tricks at CAKE & BAKE and offer a host of inspiration with their new projects. CREATIVA also features around 30 artists from Ukraine presenting traditional handicrafts and cultural heritage items. Tickets for the creative event of the year are available online via the show websites and at the venue. 

Dortmund, 15 March 2023 – As diverse as ever, yet with a modern, contemporary concept and a fresh look. CREATIVA, Europe's most successful and largest creative show, is making a comeback between 15 and 19 March 2023. For 40 years now, it's been setting new trends and reflecting existing ones. With focus issues such as handicrafts & construction, fabrics & textiles, painting & drawing, art & handicrafts, design & decoration, games & fun, fashion & accessories, living & design and education & business, it shows visitors the entire spectrum of creative activity. Creatives will find plenty of inspiration, interaction and interesting products on five days of the show complete with further event highlights such as CREATIVA NEO, CREATIVA Puppen&Bären (dolls and bears), pearl exhibition CREATIVA PerlenExpo and CREATIVA LandGarten (country gardens). And visitors can also use their tickets to visit Germany's largest cake show, CAKE & BAKE, on the CREATIVA weekend. 

Around 370 CREATIVA exhibitors from 17 countries are presenting unique, diverse ranges of new and established products, individually designed items and innovative techniques at their stands, in workshops and during special exhibition features in Halls 4 to 7. As well as numerous exhibitors from Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the UK, suppliers from India, Nepal, Tunisia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan are also in attendance. 

Community Creative Trends 2023: first-ever CREATIVA Trend Report and 'Trends & Inspirations' special exhibition feature 

During Covid, interest in crafts and handicrafts nearly doubled between 2019 and 2022 according to a Statista Global Consumer Survey. Creative minds are always on the lookout for new inspirations and trends. 

Visitors to CREATIVA are to be presented with an overview of creative trends for 2023. This will also be the case, in particular, at the Trends & Inspirations special exhibition feature in Hall 7 where visitors can be inspired by the trends of the year, gather ideas for their own creative projects and then purchase the products or materials they need to make their own replicas of works by the various CREATIVA exhibitors. 

As another first in addition to this special exhibition feature, Europe's largest creative show will this year become the first show to publish a trend report with inspirations and sample projects for the entire year. The trend guide featuring the seven trend categories NaturSchätze (treasures of nature), MeerZeit (sea time), HappyDay, PapierKram (paper stuff), GreenLiving, BohoLove and VintageFlair will reveal where the interests of the community currently lie. As well as interesting essentials on the most popular materials and techniques, readers of the Trend Guide will find inspiration, ideas, examples and instructions for everyday use for the entire year of 2023. The major macro trend of the day is sustainability or 'GreenLiving'. By using creative ideas, sustainable, reusable and upgraded products can be created or repaired in no time, thereby reducing waste and conserving resources. Another major trend is 'HappyDay' encompassing everything that keeps people's spirits up in today's uncertain times. A patchwork of bold colours, cheerful motifs and playful shapes puts a smile on our faces. 

The Trend Report is available throughout the year for download (in German) at messe-creativa.de/trendreport. Spectators at the CREATIVA STAGE will also have the opportunity to get hold of a printed copy directly after the round table entitled 'Trend agency: Trend Report with Gabriela Kaiser'. 

Tradition & Modernity: featuring Ukrainian cultural heritage prominently and experiencing creativity first-hand

One unique feature of this year's CREATIVA is the presence of around 30 artists from Ukraine. Visitors are able to experience typical handicrafts and demonstrations ranging from traditional embroidery to the 'Vyshyvanka' national costume in Hall 4. Culinary delicacies can also be sampled to obtain a further impression of Ukrainian culture, and under the title Piece for Peace Claudia Pfeil will be exhibiting some blue-and-yellow quilts which will be given away to Ukrainian children over the coming weeks.

A large area in the stickstoff Lounge in Hall 4 is being devoted to machine embroidery. On the associated stickstoff Stage, visitors will meet people like well-known freehand artist Janine Heschl from the Textile Wildlife Art label. Fashion designers leonid matthias will also be presenting six of their collections at 16:00 hrs each day on the CREATIVA STAGE. Further highlights from the designer duo are a prêt-à-porter exhibition with creations from 15 years of leonid matthias as well as the 'Pink Rock' Barbie doll exhibition in the lounge for Thomas Sabo to mark Barbie's 60th anniversary. And as a tribute to Husqvarna Viking's 150-year history, there is also an exhibition featuring pictures of embroidered fairytale worlds.

Plotting will be well represented with exhibitors such as Cricut Germany, adhesive film supplier Poli-tape Klebefolien and Mr Beam Lasers. Also, well-known influencer Plottertante (the plotter girl) will not miss the opportunity to show visitors the whole range of what plotters can do. In Hall 7, together with other experts and friends, she will be giving workshops on all aspects of plotting, and giving captivating talks on topics such as 'What can plotting do', 'Working with film' and 'Multicolour plotting' at the new Cutting Academy by Plottertante.

In addition to the numerous innovations, visitors to CREATIVA this year can expect a range of practical workshops, with exhibitors such as label manufacturer DORTEX offering professional sewing workshops for Easter and spring, and paint producer Royal Talens offering painting and drawing workshops. Also, creative handicraft circus Bastelzirkus Kunst & Kreativ in Hall 6 will once again be delighting visitors with trend workshops by, and with, manufacturers such as efco, POSCA, edding, Fiskars, KREUL, HobbyFun and STAEDTLER. And Myboshi – known for home-made caps and hats – will also be back. >>The entire Bastelzirkus programme and details of all programme participants can be found at messe-creativa.de/en-gb (Program/Craft area).

CREATIVA STAGE with suggestions for inspiration and musical acts

On the stage in Hall 4, the audience can expect sewing workshops, plotter talks, fashion shows and exciting presentations on 2023's creative trends. Bettina Dorfmann - owner of 18,500 Barbie dolls and thus the world record holder – will also be in attendance in Hall 4 and on the show stage. Those wishing to get active themselves and enjoy quizzes should not miss the CREATIVA Quizzes where visitors can win, among other things, a shopping voucher which is redeemable at the show. On Friday and Saturday afternoon, show-goers will be treated to schlager hits such as 'Du hast mich tausend Mal belogen" and "Santa Maria" echoing through Hall 4 – just two of the top hits by celebrities Andrea Berg and Roland Kaiser whose doubles will be rocking the venue.

>>The entire CREATIVA STAGE programme can be found at messe-creativa.de/en-gb (Program/ CREATIVA STAGE).

Parallel event at the weekend: CAKE & BAKE

A special highlight is the international cake fair CAKE & BAKE which will be held on 18 and 19 March 2023. Timed to coincide with CREATIVA, Germany's biggest creative cake show will present a wide range of products and programme highlights on the subjects of baking, cake decorating, patisserie, praline and chocolaterie in Hall 8 during the CREATIVA weekend.

Around 70 industry representatives and international exhibitors from 12 countries – including Super Streusel, Dr. Oetker, Styropor Products and Saracino – will be presenting amateur and professional bakers with everything their hearts desire for baking and cake decorating. Baking fans can also look forward to celebrity amateur bakers such as Ross Antony (at the Super Streusel stand), bake-off winner Raheem Haidar and all the other stars of the 2022 season of 'Das Große Backen' plus experts from Dr. Oetker. On the STAGE and at Meet & Greets, they will be giving ideas for decorating Easter sweetmeats (Dr. Oetker) and revealing how to make perfect lemon tartlets (Raheem), airbrush biscuits (Roger Hassler) and make ballerina cake-pops (Dörte and Anja). In addition, 'Germany's best amateur baker 2017' Patrick Dörner from Padis Backwelt won't be missing the opportunity to visit CAKE & BAKE again in 2023 and will reveal in 'Fault Line Cakes' how the visual masterpieces always turn out right.

>> The entire stage programme: cakeandbakemesse.de/en-gb (Visitor/Program)

Visitors can encounter international baking and cake artists such as Margherita Ferrara, Sophia Fox and Sébastien Haramendy in exclusive workshops and at the CAKE ACADEMY 2023. In the open-plan academy, spectators have the chance to watch the performances live and follow the action as it happens. Private workshops are also available in groups of up to 14 people who will learn (among other things) how to create decorative elements effortlessly – such as life-like roses (Ludmilla Gruslak), airbrush art (Marianne Daubner) and perfect borders (Kristina Rado). And with 'Ready for Disney' (Marta Hidalgo), 'Mini-Faces' (Nicola Keysselitz) and 'Jassie from Toy Story' (Silvia Mancini), participants are taught the right techniques for the fashionable topic of modelling and can create incredible works of art themselves from fondant and chocolate.

Info and registration

>> for the CAKE ACADEMY: cakeandbakemesse.de/en-gb (Workshops/CAKE ACADEMY)

>> for the workshops: cakeandbakemesse.de/en-gb (Workshops)

Another highlight of the international CAKE & BAKE show is Germany's premier cake competition, which this year has attracted around 200 cake creations from budding professional designers and amateur bakers. The exhibits can be admired throughout the show in an exhibition area in Hall 7. The expert panel of judges from cake design syndicate Interessengemeinschaft Tortendesign e.V. will also be evaluating all works as per specified criteria and will announce the winning items on the STAGE at CAKE & BAKE on Sunday at 17:00 hrs.

Other interesting and important things to note:

Show app

The entire classified list of exhibitors and products complete with hall plans, search function and much more is available to all via our up-to-the-minute show app which can be found at: webapp.messe-creativa.de/en/app/creativa2023.

Getting there

Due to the expected increase in traffic volume during the show, we recommend entering 'Maurice-Vast-Straße' as your satnav destination address. From there, local signposting will direct visitors to the appropriate parking areas.

Cloakroom and goods storage:

To help you get the most our of your day at the shows and enable you to stroll with ease through the halls, we've arranged for adequate numbers of cloakrooms for clothing and goods storage. The cloakrooms for coats are located in the North Entrance, West Entrance and in Hall 6, and are marked with a coat hanger symbol. Trolleys and suitcases can be stored during the shows in the goods storage facilities at the North Entrance and the West Entrance (marked with a suitcase symbol on the hall plan), and you're free to add purchases at any time at no extra cost. The fees are 2 euros per item. For safety reasons, trolleys and suitcases may not be taken into the halls.

Tickets are available on site at the box office or online at:
messe-creativa.de/en-gb/ticketshop / cakeandbakemesse.de/en-gb/tickets

Regular updates on CREATIVA and CAKE & BAKE are available via the shows' respective social media channels at Instagram and Facebook , via website and via newsletter.

Photos: https://westfalenhallen.canto.global/b/JR99A