The Toy Association has aborted its plan to move Toy Fair away from New York to New Orleans after over 100 years in the Big Apple, the board of directors announced. “While we aimed to adapt to the perceived shifts in our industry, the announcement of that change was met with strong feelings of tradition and enduring memories of toy business conducted in New York,” the board said in its statement announcing the change. “As a board we have heard clearly that this change was the wrong choice for our members.”
The move back to Q1 dates will remain, but the shows planned for 2026 and beyond will be held at the Javits Center in New York, not New Orleans as the organization announced earlier this month (see “Toy Fair Leaving New York“). Dates have not yet been finalized for 2026 and beyond, but the plan is to hold Toy Fair in February.
The 2025 Toy Fair will be held in New York March 1-4, 2025, as previously announced. Something’s going to have to give for the games business, as GAMA has announced that GAMA Expo will be held March 3-6, 2025 (the Monday – Tuesday dates overlap) in Louisville.
The Toy Association board also noted that it had received pushback on its decision not to hold a show in 2024. “It has also become abundantly clear that it is not in the best interest of the industry to wait until March 2025 for our next gathering,” the board said. “We have been exploring what meaningful role the Association can play around Los Angeles, which has emerged as a hub for early fall previews. We are actively exploring ways to support members there, starting in August/September 2024.”
The Toy Association has been struggling with when to hold its events since they were interrupted by Covid. Prior to 2020, the organization had held two events every year: Toy Fair New York in February, and a smaller event targeted primarily at large retailers held in the fall in Dallas. The October Toy Fair this year was the first event since February of 2020. It had its own problems with dates; Spiel Essen kicked off just two days after the end of Toy Fair New York this year, which seemed to reduce the number of game companies exhibiting at Toy Fair.
Source: ICv2
