National Funeral Exhibition 2021 postponed

The National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) has confirmed that the National Funeral Exhibition (NFE) for 2021 will be postponed until next year.

The trade association confirmed the event will now take place on the weekend of 10-12 June 2022 at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire, citing concerns over hosting large gatherings with Covid-19 restrictions still in place.

In a statement, the NAFD said: “The NAFD is extremely saddened and disappointed to have had to make this decision, but we made it for a number of important reasons. The simple fact is that there are still no exhibitions, or other large gatherings, taking place in the UK – and no indication of when it might be possible to do so.

“We are advised that Stoneleigh Park will not reopen until April 2021, at the earliest, and this is uncomfortably close to NFE, risking us being caught up in any last minute delays to this date leaving us unable to run the event.”

It added: “Even if it proves possible to run the event in the planned dates, the consensus is that vaccinating the population will take many months and so it is likely that social distancing will remain a requirement well into 2021 – leading to reduced capacity, both for visitors and exhibitors, at the show.

“We know that this decision impacts upon the marketing plans for our exhibitors and we wanted to give them as much time and support as possible to consider their options for not only 2022 – but also 2024, when the subsequent NFE will now be held.”