NEC set for busiest weekend

Birmingham's NEC is preparing for one of its busiest weekends – just days after losing a major exhibition to London.

This weekend five public shows will see thousands of visitors passing through the doors of the Birmingham venue. The Go Fishing, Hobbycrafts, Sewing for Pleasure, National Wedding and Ordnance Survey Outdoors Shows are expected to draw in more than 75,000 people.

The events come in the week in which the NEC lost the lucrative British Travel and Trade Fair (BTTF) to London's ExCel, taking it to the capital for the first time in 30 years. The NEC this week announced a a £25 million upgrade as it attempts to fend off competition from other venues, particularly in London.

ExCel, the international exhibition centre in London's Docklands, also took the British International Motor Show from the NEC in 2006.

And The Clothes Show, which has been based at the NEC since 1990, is also expanding at ExCel in May 2009, although it will still appear at the NEC in December.

Debbie Hodgson, NEC Group external relations manager, said staff are gearing up for a busy weekend, which showed the NEC was still thriving as a premier exhibition centre.

She said: "This weekend is a busy and exciting time at The NEC.

"As a rough estimate we expect to welcome more than 75,000 visitors to our venue on the Saturday and Sunday."

The NEC in Solihull and the NIA in Birmingham city centre hold around 160 events a year and welcome around 1.5 million visitors.

Mirs Hodgson: "Among events for the popular is Sewing for Pleasure with its cutting edge textile art and Hobbycrafts.

"The entrance ticket to Sewing for Pleasure will give free access to Hobbycrafts – and vice versa so we are expecting it to be popular."

With more than 250 exhibitors, the shows will include special features, daily demonstrations, hands-on areas, fashion shows, workshops, talks, expert advice from associations and guilds and displays. She added: "The Wedding Show is also set to be the biggest wedding event of the year."