Kingpins Amsterdam has come full circle.
After six years, the trade show announced Thursday it will change venues effective with the April 2020 show. The denim supply chain trade show will leave its industrial dome in Westergasfabriek for SugarCity, an event space with 40 percent more square footage.
Kingpins essentially outgrew the original space.
In six years, the trade show ballooned to 100 exhibitors from 37. Additional rooms and tents were added, but Kingpins founder Andrew Olah said, “we have dreams and goals for the show that don’t fit under that amazing blue dome.”
With the move to SugarCity, Kingpins Amsterdam’s footprint will grow more than 40 percent, from a 70,000-square-foot space to a 100,000-square-foot space. This additional space will give organizers the flexibility to add new features to the show and evolve some of the event’s key areas to better serve exhibitors and attendees.
“We hope that this change will help to maintain the momentum and vibrancy that are the hallmarks of Kingpins Amsterdam—as well as provide us with the space and opportunity to try new things,” Olah said.
Located about six miles from Westergasfabriek in the town of Halfweg, the new venue, Kingpins stated, has many of the same attributes that have come to define the Amsterdam event, including “an industrial grittiness and historic soul.”
A former factory, SugarCity was transformed into an event space in 2002 with sustainability in mind. The original building was preserved and its upgrades were made by reusing existing materials. SugarCity is a 15-minute drive or a 25-minute train ride from Schiphol Airport, and is a 10-minute train ride from Amsterdam Centraal. A train station is directly outside the venue, which offers plenty of complimentary parking.
“We have been looking for a space that captures the spirit of Kingpins Amsterdam and pushes us to the next level. I believe we have found it,” Olah said.
