04 Jun The 62nd edition of the FMY has increased the number of visitors by 20% over the previous year, with a greater number of exhibitors, a third of them from outside the region

The international scope of the event has been key thanks to the INFO trade missions, attracting prescriptors and buyers from 10 countries

THE 63RD EDITION WILL BE BACK FROM 27TH TO 30TH MAY 2025

The Yecla Furniture Fair (FMY) closed its 62nd edition last Friday with the best registration and turnout figures in recent years. It has reached ten foreign countries and left the participants with the impression that it has been ‘a great fair’.

With ‘Come and grow’, this year’s FMY’s slogan, there has been a firm commitment to highlight the importance of the event for the newest up-and-coming companies: the place where they can grow hand in hand with the fair. And this is how the firms and visitors alike have understood it, with over 20% growth compared to the previous edition.

Nearly 100 companies exhibited their products at the Yecla show. The presence of firms from outside the Region of Murcia was outstanding, some thirty, with a considerable renovation of exhibitors, many of which had never before exhibited at the FMY.

The international exposure of the event has also been highlighted thanks to the trade missions organised by the Development Institute (INFO), and supported by the Regional Association of Furniture and Wood Entrepreneurs of the Region of Murcia (AREMA). This year, they have focused primarily on European countries and the rising African market.

Therefore, these missions have allowed the fair to be promoted directly in several countries such as the Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, Norway and Finland. The prescriptors and customers from these countries not only visited the fair but also several of the Yecla Cluster production centres.

The contract and partnership fair

The 62nd edition of the event was defined by this year’s commitment to the contract sector. An International Conference, organised by INFO and coordinated by David Cámara, was held with a panel of nine top-level experts. But it is also worth highlighting the Masterclass on hotel projects held by renowned architect Paolo Mauri during the first three days of the event.

Our commitment to research and innovation is always present at the fair through our firms but above all with the participation of the Technology Centre of Wood and Furniture of the Region of Murcia (CETEM), which this year has presented a new sustainable process for the recycling of polyurethane foam waste and its subsequent industrial reuse, all from a circular economy approach.

However, the most moving moment arrived with the presentation of the Arema Annual Award, an award that has traditionally been handed out as part of the fair’s programme. This year it has served as a tribute to Juan Carlos Muñoz Melero, the Yecla entrepreneur who passed away last February having received the award. A monolith, made by the artist Pedro José Santa Puche, was unveiled just outside the venue in his memory.

Something similar occurred with the specialised trade agents, an essential element in the firms’ marketing as well as in the Yecla Furniture Fair. This year, as usual, they celebrated their traditional day with the presence of a large part of the COAC of the Region of Murcia.

Another important aspect has been the work carried out by the trade fair team, in collaboration with the agency 2 Veces Marketing, which has continued to focus on digital marketing as a key way of positioning and promoting the fair. Thus, this year trade agents were involved in an initiative to incentivise registrations. A prize was awarded to the three agents with the highest number of registrations, and visitors who placed orders worth more than 1,000 euros could win a 2,000 euro voucher to spend amongst the exhibitors.

All in all, and as acknowledged at the closing ceremony by the president of the Executive Committee and mayoress of Yecla, Remedios Lajara, this has been ‘the most successful’ of the last three years, fulfilling expectations and ‘doing real business, and that’s what’s important’. As of now, the management of the event is already working to ensure that in the 63rd edition, scheduled to be held from 27th to 30th May, the Yecla Furniture Fair continues to grow and make visiting companies grow too.