MILAN—The board of directors of Mido, the world’s leading trade show dedicated to eyewear, said they met today in order to set up and define a strategic response to the CoVID-19 emergency, in relation to the upcoming edition scheduled for Feb. 29 to March 2. The organizers announced this evening that the board has decided to postpone the 2020 edition until between the end of May and mid June. The dates are still to be decided, the statement said.

“We took this decision out of respect for the current alarming situation and for our exhibitors and visitors," said Giovanni Vitaloni, president of Mido "As this health crisis is developing in Italy, we could not but choose to postpone Mido’s 2020 edition. We immediately defined and selected a timeframe within the year which could meet the needs of the eyewear industry at a national and international level.

"We are aware that this decision will require industry professionals, exhibitors, buyers, press members, opticians and everyone working for Mido, including our staff, to reschedule their attendance, with a significant impact on all internal organizations."

He continued, "It will be a twofold effort as we are just a week away from the show, but we cannot honestly think of celebrating our 50 years when the world—and our country now in particular—is experiencing such an international crisis.

"We trust though that, for the very nature of the current situation, which is alarming and continuously evolving, our exhibitors and visitors, the media and everyone involved will understand our decision. Our sense of responsibility as business people, but most of all, as human beings, toward our families, our children, our colleagues, has compelled us to do something that we would have never wanted to do, especially for this special edition, the year of our 50th birthday.”

The new dates of Mido 2020 will be announced in the upcoming days "in order to let exhibitors reschedule their presence at the show, in compliance with possible new instruction from the relevant authorities who are dealing with this health crisis and in accordance with how the situation will develop and the availability of the spaces at Rho Fiera Milano, with which we keep constantly in touch."