April 10th, 1990:
Lighting trade shows provide that critical interface between manufacturers, distributors and designers that provide important networking opportunities & make possible the exchange of new product and technical information.
In the early 1990s, there were two major national lighting trade shows trying to find their feet in the United States: Lighting World and Lightfair — the latter of which debuted on April 10, 1990 in New York City.
The market could not sustain two large scale industry trade shows, and Lightfair wound up being the victor of the North American market.
Over the course of its 30+ year history, Lightfair has become the go-to event for lighting designers and distribution in the United States.
In the early days of Lightfair, the show rotated between New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. In 2003, the coast-to-coast rotation was limited to New York and Las Vegas. In 2011, because of the renovation at the Javitz Center in New York, Lightfair moved to Philadelphia. It has also been held in San Diego.
LightFair then switched from an annual to a biennial event, taking place only in odd-numbered years. The 2025 version will be in New York City.
Featured image courtesy of Trade Show News Network.
