Light + Building is the worlds largest and most influential trade fair for the lighting and building-services industry. Held every two years in March at Messe Frankfurt, the six-day event brings approximately 2,200 exhibitors from 50+ countries and 196,000 visitors (220,864 in 2018, 151,192 in 2024) from 170+ countries to Frankfurt.
Industry context
Light + Building is organised by Messe Frankfurt GmbH and combines two industry threads - architectural and decorative lighting on one side, and building automation, electrical engineering and electrotechnical infrastructure on the other. The fair is paired with the citywide "Luminale" lighting-design festival, which turns Frankfurts public spaces into a six-day lighting-art installation.
Exhibitor profile
The exhibitor list ranges from luxury decorative lighting houses (Flos, Artemide, Foscarini, Louis Poulsen, Vibia) through global LED and architectural-lighting brands (Signify/Philips, Osram, Erco, Zumtobel, Trilux, Acuity Brands) to building-automation giants (Siemens, ABB, Schneider Electric, Honeywell, Hager, Gira, Jung, Busch-Jaeger). Roughly half of exhibitors are German, with very heavy Italian (decorative lighting) and Dutch (architectural) contingents.
Visitor demographics
Visitors are predominantly architects, electrical engineers, lighting designers, building-services consultants, facility managers, electrical wholesalers, and an increasingly large contingent of building-automation integrators. Roughly half come from outside Germany. The architect attendance is unusually heavy - over 30,000 RIBA, AIA, BDA and equivalent architects attend each edition.
What makes the stand build different here
Light + Building stand designs are dominated by the lighting brands themselves - which means stand lighting is, by definition, the product. Decorative-lighting halls (Halls 5, 6) feature deliberately darkened ceilings to let exhibitors stage their lighting in controlled conditions. Architectural and technical halls (Halls 8, 9, 10, 11) trend toward bright, gallery-like installations. Hall 11 (12.5 m ceiling clearance) is the venue of choice for the largest double-deck stands.
Hall map summary
Halls 1.1-1.2: Building automation and electrical engineering. Hall 3.0: Smart home. Hall 4.0: Cables and components. Hall 5: Decorative lighting. Hall 6: Decorative and design lighting (darkened ceilings). Halls 8.0 and 9.0: Architectural and technical lighting. Halls 10.2 and 11: Lighting design and signage. Hall 12: New exhibitors and innovation showcase.
Key exhibitor dates (counting back from doors)
- Day -300: stand space booking
- Day -180: floor plan, lighting power load submitted
- Day -120: hotel booking (Frankfurt rates spike Light + Building week)
- Day -60: freight, fragile-lighting transport
- Day -21: rigging certification
- Day -7 to Day -1: build-up
- 8 March 2026: doors open at 09:00