K is the world's leading trade fair for plastics and rubber, held every three years at Messe Düsseldorf. The 2025 edition ran 8-15 October 2025 and has now concluded; it drew around 3,250 exhibitors from 66 countries across 177,000 sqm and close to 170,000 visitors. The next edition, K 2028, is scheduled for 18-25 October 2028. Organised by Messe Düsseldorf, K covers raw materials and auxiliaries, machinery and equipment, and semi-finished products and technical parts.
K is a working-machinery fair on an enormous scale, which makes it one of the most demanding builds in the world. Exhibitors run full-size plastics and rubber processing machinery, injection-moulding, extrusion and recycling lines, live on their stands, so booths require very high floor loads, large three-phase power, cooling water, compressed air and waste handling, with the machine as the centrepiece. The eight-day run and the weight of the equipment make structural and services planning central to the design.
Because K runs heavy production equipment across the Düsseldorf halls, floor-load ratings, services provisioning and the long build-up needed to install machinery are defining features, and Messe Düsseldorf's technical rules for heavy exhibits are strict. Exhibitors plan K stands one to two years ahead given the triennial cycle and the scale of the installations.
For companies exhibiting at K, a builder experienced with Messe Düsseldorf and heavy machinery exhibits is close to essential: coordinating power, cooling, floor loading and the installation of full production lines is specialist work, and local knowledge of the venue's logistics, forwarder and approved contractors materially reduces risk. Planning for the next edition, K 2028, should begin well in advance.