Everything is ready for Xylexpo 2026!
There is much talk about trade fairs needing to change, about the “epochal shift” triggered by the pandemic emergency of a few years ago, and about the need to take into account how different materials now contribute to the definition of a single product. And this is precisely what Xylexpo is attempting. With courage and perhaps a touch of audacity, but without hesitation in defining what will finally take shape from June 9 to 12 at FieraMilano-Rho.
As mentioned, Xylexpo will be in excellent company: first and foremost with Plast, the exhibition dedicated to plastics and rubber, which will take place on the same dates. Two fairs that not only represent a significant share of Italian manufacturing technology suppliers, but that have also chosen to launch Composites Future, a brand-new exhibition-conference intended to become a reference point for the increasingly relevant world of composite materials.
All of this will take place under the banner of “MaTec – materials and technologies”, the major spring event dedicated to the manufacturing industry, designed to chart a new course by creating new opportunities, relationships and connections among industries that are becoming ever more closely intertwined.
Let us begin with MaTec itself, a cross-sector format that proposes new ways of meeting and exchanging ideas among different branches of the manufacturing industry: a project that today brings together wood and furniture, plastics and rubber, and composite materials, but that could further broaden its scope in the future.
As we noted earlier, sector-specific trade fairs need more than ever to introduce new formulas. The rapid growth of new ways of connecting supply and demand requires different choices, capable of giving renewed relevance, content and motivation to events dedicated to specific industries.
“The convergence of different materials within the same product is a well-established experience, both in terms of design and construction methods,” commented Dario Corbetta, director of Xylexpo. “For several decades now, machinery and plants for the woodworking and wood-based materials sector have increasingly found applications in other industries as well, effectively responding to a demand for solutions in which multi-materiality is an absolute priority. Together with our friends at Plast and Assocompositi, the association representing companies in this specific sector, we have chosen to travel part of this road together. It is a choice that opens the door to new opportunities, collaborations and synergies that are now indispensable.”
“We have chosen to offer a new experience, placing visitor ‘satisfaction’ at the forefront and involving them, perhaps for the first time in the world, in a context that no longer aims to be single-theme, but fully open to new experiences and cross-fertilisation,” added Mario Maggiani, director of Plast. “A single ticket will allow operators from even very different sectors to meet suppliers of technologies and materials for the wood and furniture industry, plastics and rubber, boating, aerospace, automotive or construction, to name just a few of the sectors involved in the MaTec days. A web of possibilities from which we expect new perspectives…”
MEANWHILE, XYLEXPO…
Final preparations are therefore underway for the 2026 edition of Xylexpo, the biennial international exhibition of technologies for the woodworking and furniture industries, which will occupy Halls 14 and 18 of FieraMilano-Rho. Around 150 exhibitors will cover an exhibition area of 15,000 square metres, in a time slot that, it is worth recalling once again, is due to renovation works at the exhibition centre linked to the Milan-Cortina Olympics.
This edition places strong emphasis on the major theme of multi-materiality: not coincidentally, Xylexpo will host the exhibition-conference Composites Future in Hall 18, an event dedicated to composite materials and their processing, with the involvement of Assocompositi, the national association of companies in the sector.
“This year too, Xylexpo will be a faithful, if demanding, mirror of a sector that not only has to face an absolutely ‘unexpected’ geopolitical context, to use a euphemism, but must also reckon with a season of profound transformation,” commented Dario Corbetta, director of the exhibition. “The rise of new economies, the need to operate globally, new materials and new lifestyles have led the woodworking technology sector to reflect on its role and meaning, making it extremely clear that only the most attentive, best prepared companies, with a strong vision of their own future, will be able to seize the new opportunities.”
The fair will make it possible to assess the most current “technological trends”, with a prevalence of Italian and European exhibitors.
At Xylexpo 2026, delegations of foreign operators are expected from more than 25 countries, organised thanks to ICE Agency. Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Mediterranean basin, the Middle and Far East, India and the Americas are the regions showing strong interest this season in woodworking and furniture industry technologies, and they will be in pole position among Xylexpo visitors.
The Xylexpo Arena will also return, hosting events, meetings, conversations, talk shows and seminars that will once again enliven the days of Xylexpo and be broadcast via the Xylexpo Digital platform. The complete and continuously updated programme is available at https://www.xylexpo.com/it/eventi/xylexpo-2026-arena, while these pages feature an almost definitive agenda, subject only to last-minute adjustments.
HOLZBAU FORUM
Among the many events scheduled this year, the organisers of Xylexpo have chosen to place particular emphasis on the world of timber construction. The importance of building with wood is, after all, growing all over the world: a process that now appears unstoppable, in line with decarbonisation goals and ESG criteria (Environmental, Social, Governance). Production techniques have changed and continue to evolve steadily, thanks also to the increasingly significant use of applications and systems based on artificial intelligence. Just think of how robots have become a must in prefabrication. Hence the decision to offer Xylexpo visitors and exhibitors a concise yet meaningful overview of the most current topics in the modern production of wooden buildings.
FORUM HOLZBAU will therefore organise an international conference at Xylexpo 2026, offering sector professionals, wooden house manufacturers, production managers, builders, designers and engineers the opportunity to share their experiences with international experts.
It is perhaps worth recalling here that FORUM HOLZBAU is a prestigious international platform bringing together leading universities from several countries — including Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Canada — with specific excellence in the field of timber construction. The initiative was created to spread and promote the culture of building with wood. In Italy, FORUM HOLZBAU works closely with the University of Trento, and professional credits will be recognised for engineers.
COMPOSITES FUTURE
Italy finally has an event dedicated to composite materials: “Composites Future” will open its doors from June 9 to 12, positioning itself as a platform for the increasingly complex world of composite materials and the technologies used to process them. A world that more “traditional” technologies have already been engaging with for some time.
This is the starting point for the project strongly promoted by the organisers of Xylexpo and Plast, who, as mentioned, chose to send a concrete signal in the search for new exhibition solutions by involving Assocompositi, which represents Italian companies in the supply chain.
“It is both a responsibility and a great satisfaction to finally give a voice, also from an exhibition standpoint, to companies linked to innovative materials,” commented Roberto Frassine, professor of Materials Science and Technology at the Polytechnic University of Milan and president of Assocompositi since its foundation in 2005. “Sharing this adventure with the plastics and wood sectors means framing the theme of the industry of the future from a new perspective. A ‘first’ that, we are certain, will not fail to reveal new opportunities.”
The new watchword is therefore multi-materiality, a concept that has now become almost taken for granted and that will be explored not only in the MaTec exhibition spaces, but also and above all through the intense, varied and dynamic programme of events organised by Composites Future. These will include a morning in-depth session at the Xylexpo Arena, accompanied by a “demo area” with events, meetings and demonstrations that will animate the afternoons, from 2.30 pm to 5 pm, on June 10, 11 and 12.
Here too, the complete and continuously updated programme of “Composites Future” activities is available at https://www.compositesfuture.com/it/visitare/eventi.html, while a detailed agenda follows below.
