This means that the previous year's result was almost maintained despite the warning strike at Deutsche Bahn, which canceled 80 percent of long-distance trains on Friday, and the freezing rain that set in on Friday.

Dr. Jochen Köckler, Chairman and CEO of Deutsche Messe AG: "Pferd & Jagd has once again proven to be an important meeting place for the industry. We have succeeded in bringing both riders and hunters to Hanover at the end of the year to bring the 2023 trade fair year to a close together."

This was made clear on the first day of the trade fair at the "Green Evening", where representatives of the German Hunting Association, Pferdeland Niedersachsen GmbH and Niedersächsische Landesforsten discussed the sustainable use of forests and meadows. Lower Saxony's Minister of Agriculture, Miriam Staudte, and numerous invited exhibitors from both sectors were also present.

The highlights of Pferd & Jagd included the "Night of the Horses", which was sold out on both evenings, and the children's horse and pony show "MiMaMo", which was also sold out. The numerous meet & greet events with popular influencers from the equestrian and hunting worlds, the new "Hubertus Arena", where exciting hunting-related topics were discussed every day, and the new game kitchen, where TV chef Rainer Sass prepared popular game recipes and invited visitors to sample them, were also very well attended

The two "barn parties", which took place for the first time on Friday and Saturday, were also particularly well received by visitors. People partied and danced into the evening with live music, cool drinks and good food, underlining the transformation of the fair into an experience fair.

Despite the expansion of the information and entertainment program, which was very well received by the visitors, there was also some criticism - especially in the hunting sector - as some well-known exhibitors were once again not represented this year. "Despite the overall success of Pferd & Jagd, we openly share the view that we still have a challenging road ahead of us to return to our former size and quality in the hunting sector. We will do everything in our power in intensive discussions with exhibitors in the new year to persuade them to participate again," said Dr. Jochen Köckler, CEO of the trade fair.

However, this did little to dampen the good mood, which is also reflected in the results of the visitor survey conducted by the independent market research institute Gelszus from Dortmund. Almost 84% of visitors bought or ordered something, spending an average of EUR 585 (previous year: 472) and, as in the previous year, 86% of visitors said they would recommend the trade fair to others.

Exhibitors were therefore predominantly satisfied. Melanie Beckmann, Green Village: "The trade fair was mega cool, it was a lot of fun. We met a lot of new customers, the concept of the fair was great, thank you very much."

The next Pferd & Jagd will take place from December 5 to 8, 2024.