Demo Green 2024: largest Belgian outdoor demo of equipment for greenery, sports fields and urban cleaning

In early September 2024, more than 4,200 visitors descended on the Werchter festival grounds. Not for performances by dEUS, Lenny Kravitz or Foo Fighters, but for fascinating demos of ride-on mowers, shredders, electric tractors and urban cleaning equipment. The sixteenth edition of Green Demo was once again a hit. The three-day open-air event is and remains 'the place to be' for professionals active in green management, city cleaning and recreational and sports infrastructure looking for new equipment.

An outdoor event is not without risk as far as weather conditions are concerned. During Demo Groen 2024 - which took place from September 8 to 10, 2024 - the weather gods were not particularly kind to the organizers. Yet this did not put a damper on the festivities. "With 4,250 visitors, 35 percent of whom were garden contractors and 20 percent municipal employees from just over 140 municipalities, we can safely speak of a fine turnout," said Alain Vander Cruys, event organizer Fedagrim. "We also welcomed quite a few garden centers and machinery dealers."

From De Panne to Arlon

Until 2022, Demo Groen took place at Laeken Park, at the foot of the Atomium. Did the move to Werchter cause a shift in regional distribution of event attendees? "We are effectively seeing a shift," says Alain Vander Cruys. "While we used to welcome participants mainly from East and West Flanders and Flemish Brabant - and for Wallonia, Hainaut and Walloon Brabant - the majority of visitors in Werchter were from Flemish Brabant, Antwerp, Limburg, Liege and Hainaut. Still an element to take into account for the next editions, because as an organizer we obviously want to roll out the red carpet for all professionals, from De Panne to Arlon."

Satisfied exhibitors

The 71 exhibitors present - 14 of them active in street cleaning - were very enthusiastic about the good accessibility and open space of the festival site. "We offered them plenty of open grass area to exhibit green equipment, complemented by four thousand square meters of hard surface for demos of city cleaning equipment," Alain Vander Cruys confirmed. "Combined with ample parking in the vicinity, the set-up and take-down of exhibition stands happened very smoothly, although the wet weather created a terrain that was not in optimal condition. Especially the demonstration possibilities were hampered by this."

Exhibitors speak out

GreenPro asked some exhibitors why they participated in Demo Groen 2024 and how they evaluate the event. For Gunter Hermans, manager of Herco Machinery, this trade event is ideal for properly assessing the wishes and needs of end customers. "For prospects and customers, Demo Groen is a fantastic opportunity to talk to different manufacturers and dealers in one day. We are happy to answer their questions about the features, cost price, warranty conditions and trade-in value of our machines. This national fair is indispensable for Herco Machinery to put our company extra on the map in our sector."

How does Johan Teeuwen, OPE category manager at EuroGarden, view Demo Groen 2024? "This trade show is unique because of the high visitor numbers. We also demonstrate individually at customers' premises, but Demo Groen has a much wider reach. Because end users get to use our machines on site, they get a good idea of the strengths of our offering. During this three-day event we showed the complete range of both CRAMER and ECHO, with special attention to the CRAMER Zero-Turn mowers, the new RTK robot and ECHO's 56V high-performance battery. Visitors to our booth asked a lot of questions about autonomy in electrification, where we presented them with some innovative solutions such as on-site battery charging without 230V sockets."

Engaging study sessions

Visitors were also full of praise for Demo Green 2024. They enjoyed interesting study sessions, combined with fascinating networking opportunities. Alain Vander Cruys: "During compact sessions lasting no more than thirty minutes, we had a lot of experts talking about a variety of topics. For example, EDUCAM provided more information on the new legislation for working with high-voltage machinery. Bomen Beter Beheren (BBB) informed visitors about optimal tree management. The Flemish Employment Service (VDAB) gave tips on how to attract new employees as a garden contractor or dealer. Advanta spoke about evergreen, native roadside mixtures. And so there were numerous other study sessions..."  

Appointment in 2026!
As befits a professional event organizer, the date for the next Demo Green is already set. Mark September 6 through 8, 2026 in your calendar. Once again, this green event will be the meeting point for the green and urban cleaning sector, packed with inspiring demos and fun networking opportunities!