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For Exhibitors Guidelines and permissions

Guidelines and permissions

In this exhibitor’s guide you will find instructions for planning, construction, permits and logistics.

eMessukeskus

eMessukeskus is Messukeskus’ online service for exhibitors. Register as a user at https://emessukeskus.com/en-US/registration. Confirm user account by clicking on the confirmation link sent to your email. The confirmation request is sent to the address you provided when registering. Once you have confirmed the user account, you can log in.

You are free to look around eMessukeskus, the event calendar, products, services and prices without logging in. You can also register as an exhibitor to an event without logging in.

Participations can be found in the My participations section. You can access your own events when you click My pages in the menu and then My participations.

If the event is not visible despite logging in:

  • The event is visible to the main contact person of the participation when he is logged in and he can grant you access to the workspace of your participation.
  • The main contact person is the person who has confirmed the participation or who was stated as the main contact person in the confirmation or afterwards.
  • If the main contact person has changed, inform the name of the new person by email to customer.service@messukeskus.com.

Do you need instructions and tips for using your profile page? Click here:

Permits and security

According to Finnish alcohol licensing legislation, selling and serving alcoholic beverages is always subject to license. In Messukeskus, the license-holder is NoHo Partners. Licensing legislation prohibits the exhibitors from bringing their own or sponsored beverages to the events.

Serving and tasting food products and selling packaged food products at the stand is allowed. Please check from customer service if serving chewing gum and popcorn is allowed at the event.

Sales of non-packaged food products are permitted at individually agreed food events. In food events, the sales product must not compete with the products of the Messukeskus restaurant partners. Coffee can be served but not sold.

When you serve or sell your own food at the stand, you must notify the City of Helsinki Environment Center no later than 4 working days before the event. For further information, contact details and instructions on submitting information electronically, please visit website of the City of Helsinki. If you are only giving out small sweets wrapped in paper, crisps, or coffee, no notification is required. Notification of food sales or servings >>

If the event is organized by a party other than Messukeskus, check the food sales and service practices from the event organizer.

The exhibitor shall be responsible for the appropriate advance inspection (e.g. age limits) of films, video programmes, other audiovisual programmes and recordings which he presents on the Messukeskus’ premises as well as fees required by the Copyright Act for music and other works which he presents.

Permission to show a film is granted by the production company of the film or another party authorized by the film producer. Permission to show Finnish films is granted by APFI. For further information, please see https://elokuvalisenssi.fi/en/

It is not allowed to give out gas inflated balloons on the stand. Regular air inflated balloons on sticks are permitted. If you are using gas inflated balloons as decorations on the stand, please contact our customer service customer.service@messukeskus.com.

If your cooking releases smoke into the hall, the cooktop must be equipped with a cooker hood that has an activated carbon filter. The cooker hood must be sufficiently powerful and installed at the correct height above the cooktop. The hood must also be sufficiently large to extract smoke through the filter when using several cooktops. Read more >>

Sellers must offer customers a receipt when they pay in cash or by card. Receipts may be printed out on paper, written by hand, or provided electronically. Read more here >>

According to the Consumer Safety Act (920/2011), the service provider is responsible for the safety of services. Consumer service refers to a service intended for the use or mainly used for private consumption. Service provider refers to a natural person or private or public legal entity that produces, makes available for sale, offers, sells or otherwise provides or commissions consumer services. Services offered by associations and organizations do not fall within the scope of the law if such services are only offered to members and for purposes other than business.

The operator must notify the supervisory authority (Tukes) if a product used in the rendering of a service damages a person’s health, or causes an accident, hazard or serious near- miss situation. The form and the instructions for submitting the notification can be found on Tukes’s Consumer Safety site.

Your music must not disturb the neighboring stands. The maximum volume is 75 dB. Please observe event specific limits.

The exhibitor shall be responsible for the appropriate advance inspection (e.g. age limits) of films, video programmes, other audiovisual programmes and recordings which he presents on the Messukeskus’ premises as well as fees required by the Copyright Act for music and other works which he presents. Messukeskus shall pay the Teosto and Gramex fees on behalf of the exhibitors.

Live music performers must notify Teosto of the compositions they intend to perform and the authors of these. They are also responsible for making the appropriate payments. Please remind your performers of this. For further information, please contact: Teosto

If the event is organized by a party other than Messukeskus, check practices from the event organizer.

If you have work demonstrations at your stand, the demonstration area must be supervised and clearly defined. If the demonstration includes hot work and poses a fire risk, the demonstration area must meet the requirements set for a permanent hot work place.

Handling and storage of hazardous materials on the stand is subject to a permit issued by the Hall Manager. Submit your report to 45 days prior to the event at the latest; hallimestari@messukeskus.com.

Check out the event construction and security guidelines and licensed issues here >>

Stand-specific electricity will be installed in accordance with your order and the installation drawing. Order the work 45 days prior to the event at the latest via the eMessukeskus service and remember to attach the installation drawing.

Photographing and filming at events is allowed and the material can be freely published in social media. If you photograph or film identifiable people at the event, you should ask for their permission. It is really important to ask for a permission in writing when photographing or filming minor children.

Planning the stand

During fairs organized by Messukeskus, all stands must have their own 2,5m high walls towards neighbouring stands and technical areas, unless the event specific regulations determine otherwise. The stand should give a neat impression in all directions, so that the general appearance of the stand is proper with regard to the public. If the event is organized by another party, please check the current regulations from the event organizer.

The standard height of the stand structures is 250 cm. You can choose profile or standard wall structures for your stand. The rented structures are intended for interior use only. Standard and profile structures cannot be combined.

Profile measurements >>

You can attach a product name, company name or logo to the fascia. The height of the free space for a profile fascia is 20 cm, while the fascia board is 30 cm.

The price of structures includes rental, installation and dismantling costs for the entire exhibition. Exhibitors are expected to compensate in full for any damaged or lost structures.

There are many ways of decorating your stand; you can use printed images, decals, banners, panelling, carpets and potted plants. You can rent furniture for your stand or bring your own.

Profile structures may be decorated by attaching items with adhesives or decorating hooks. You can borrow decorating hooks free of charge from the Exhibition Office. Standard structures may be decorated by attaching items with adhesives, small screws or nails. Remove adhesives, screws and nails when dismantling your stand. Otherwise Messukeskus may charge you for the cost of removing them.

You cannot place decorative elements or posters on the walls of the neighbouring stand and your structures may not be supported by them. All items on the stand, any moving elements that are projected onto the walls or the ceiling, and distribution of all brochures and product samples must remain within the perimeters of the stand. You are not allowed to hand out helium balloons at the stands.

You can fasten the stand carpet to the hall floor with tape. Please use tape that is easy to detach and remember to remove all tapes from the floor after the event. Otherwise, Messukeskus may charge the cost of removing them.

The hall and the weight of the suspended item will determine, how the item can be suspended. It happens either with light suspension points (weight max 15 kg / suspension point) or with truss suspensions (max weight 100-250 kg / suspension point). The following table will clarify the possibilities and restrictions of suspending at Messukeskus.

Many of our products require a separate installation plan, so that we can deliver the product according to the customers’ wishes. By sending the installation plan at least 45 days before the event, you will ensure a smooth delivery. Please deliver the plan to standlayout@messukeskus.com.

The installation plan should include
• Name of event
• Name of exhibitor
• Stand number
• Aisle markings (e.g. letters, stand direction in the hall)
• The location of the ordered products and possibly their height should be marked out.
• If you have ordered suspensions from the hall ceiling, please mark out the suspended product, weight and desired suspension height (measured from the floor).

Please check the possibility of additional cost for logos placed higher than 250 cm or suspended from the ceiling. This information can be found from the exhibition’s terms of participating. Any structures higher than 250 cm have to approved by a Technical Coordinator of Messukeskus 45 days prior to the event (standlayout@messukeskus.com).

Suspensions are restricted in Hall 1 for safety reasons. Therefore, only Suomen Videoviestintä SVV Ltd. has the right to install trusses and lights to Hall 1. This means that all possible truss and lights have to be ordered from SVV Ltd. Please be informed that the ceiling of Hall 1 has a lot of limitations and all truss and light designs are not possible or could require an extensive amount of additional truss lines and rigging points to be installed. This will create an extra cost. Therefore, it is important that you will contact SVV Ltd. well in advance to discuss the possibilities of your stands suspension points and lightning.

Please contact SVV Ltd at: svv.myynti@messukeskus.com or tel. +358 40 450 3258.

  • Standing booth structures, i.e. stand walls, cannot be supported from the ceiling or the standing booth structures cannot be supported from anything else, i.e. truss, hanging from the ceiling. If you would need support from the ceiling, the whole structure is handled as a ceiling suspension meaning that if needed, the item can be lifted up from the floor with motor hoists. For this, we need the weight of the suspended item, a list what is suspended and the desired height and an installation drawing, marked with stand number, aisles and the sufficient measurements.
  • You must use safety wires on your suspended item(s), if the used hoist type it is not permitted to hang items above event visitors. Messukeskus checks all the riggings by the end of the construction time and may demand extra precaution if necessary.
  • Hoists and other equipment used for suspending must meet the Finnish and the EU statutory standards and the safety standards.
  • If the suspension points are close to each other and / or the point loads of the suspensions are close to the maximum limit, the point loads are limited by the weight per square meter. Please check the maximum load point of your stand from svv.myynti@messukeskus.com.
  • For safety reasons, you should not combine truss products from different manufacturers. Truss lines must be made with products from the same manufacturer. We do not lift truss lines that use truss products from different manufacturers.

The structures, decorative elements and advertisements exceeding 2,5m in height must be placed at least two meters away from the neighboring stand. This can only be deviated from with a written agreement with the neighbor.

In some events, additional advertising space rent is charged. All structures and decorations that exceed the standard height of 2,5 meters are counted as additional advertising space. Check the event’s participation conditions, if the charge is in use at the event you are participating in.

In the future, our exhibitors will be served by their own wireless network called Messukeskus Exhibitor in Helsinki Messukeskus. The password to use the network can be found at eMessukeskus and we will also send it to you in a customer message before the event.

We also offer both wireless and wired network solutions as an additional service. Our contact person helps with practical questions. For payment terminals, cash register systems and other critical department functions, you should order a fixed network connection.

Please note that the exhibitors’ own Wi-Fi base stations are prohibited at events organized by Suomen Messut as they interfere with all internet operators of the event, thus putting everyone’s operations at risk. If you need your own WiFi base station, you can order a wireless WPA2 network with a password for the department from Suomen Videoviesintä at svv.myynti@messukeskus.com.

Our in-house AV-company Suomen Videoviestintä SVV Ltd is glad to help exhibitors and event organizers. They offer a wide range of rental AV equipment that will help you to stand out, be heard and seen. Your stand will attract visitors when equipped with displays, LED screens, laptops, audio systems and wireless microphones. SVV offers cost-effective light packages that include lights, truss and rigging. SVV’s rental equipment also includes a wide range of moving heads to create special light effects for your stand.

SVV works close with event organizers to create tailored solutions for their events. Our in-house AV company is one of Finland’s leading audiovisual companies specializing in video projection, HD & 4K displays. It provides a wide range of services including conference and event sound, lighting, stage, interpretation and IT & telecommunication services.

The price of AV equipment includes rental, installation and dismantling costs. Exhibitors are expected to compensate in full for any damaged or lost equipment.

If you have a sound system on your stand, and you are using wireless microphones (i.e. hand held or headsets), you must inform Suomen Videoviestintä SVV Ltd about it. SVV Ltd operates and controls the microphone frequencies at events or exhibitions organized by Messukeskus. You must inform SVV about your microphone frequencies 7 days before the first construction day at the latest.

Please send an email to: svv.myynti@messukeskus.com, and attach to following details: The name of the event, the stand number, how many microphones are used, which brand and model the microphones are and which frequency range the microphones use. I.e: Book Fair, 6p100, 5 pcs Shure, ulxd g51, 470-534MHz. SVV Ltd will contact you before the exhibition or event opens and inform on which frequency range you can operate during the event.

Why is it important to inform us about your wireless mics?

The wireless microphones must be reported to SVV Ltd to ensure that the exhibition is successful for all parties and to prevent frequency overlaps during the event. There is a limit of how many wireless microphones can operate at the same frequency range and therefore, it is essential that you inform SVV Ltd about your wireless microphones.

If a non-reported sound system with wireless microphones is discovered during an exhibition or event, SVV Ltd has the right to change the frequency of the microphones or swop the microphones for wired ones if possible. If your microphones are wired, you do not need to report them to SVV Ltd.

Exhibitors’ electrical equipment must fulfil the requirements of the SFS 6000- 7-711 standard. Socket groups below 20 A must be furnished with 30 mA faulty-current circuit breakers. Exhibitors are not permitted to install any wiring at the stands.

Electricity to the stands will be cut off 30 minutes after the exhibition day has ended. If you require night-time electricity at your stand for IT equipment or a fridge, remember to order a socket with continuous electricity supply.

On the last day of the event, all electrical power in the stands, including the continuous current, will be cut off 30 min after the event closes. If you need electricity after this, please let us know beforehand at customer.service@messukeskus.com or on the spot, please contact the electrician directly at +358 40 450 3175.

Stand-specific electricity will be installed in accordance with your order and the installation drawing. The price of electrical installations includes the rental for fixtures, cables and other installation materials as well as the installation and dismantling work. If additional support channels, cable wires or other materials are needed for installing light fittings or busbars, or for other special work, a separate charge shall be applied for the materials and installation work.

There should be a technical service trap at or near your stand for plumbing, drainage and compressed air connections. The location and availability of these service traps varies from hall to hall. Let us know your needs when ordering your stand. For example, if you are selling food or serving tastings at your stand, you may require access to plumbing and drainage. No solid or corrosive substances or substances considered hazardous waste can be let down the drain.

The diameter of the base drain is Ø 50 mm. The compressed air connector is a CEJN ½ quick-release coupling. The network pressure is about 7.5 bar and is equipped with automatic dewatering.

Water fittings and connection hoses used in the distribution of drinking water must be disinfected before use. The instructions and obligation to self-monitoring apply to event organisers as well as companies participating in events. Compliance with the instructions is monitored by the City of Helsinki’s Food Safety Unit. When you order water fittings through us, we take care of disinfection for you. If you use your own water fittings at the event, we ask you to take care of disinfecting the water fittings and connection hoses. Disinfection can also be purchased as an additional service through our partner Are Oy, Service Manager Timo Vilokkinen, tel. +358 40 300 5100, timo.vilokkinen@are.fi.

Two-story structures require permission from Messukeskus and the authorities. Please send the installation picture with strength calculations to: osastopalvelut@messukeskus.com no later than 45 days before the fair.

Construction, event and dismantling

It is possible to deliver goods to Messukeskus well before the construction time, if you make a service agreement with the Messukeskus’ logistic partner, Niemi Event Services. Otherwise, delivery of the goods is not possible before the beginning of the construction time. Contact Niemi Event Services tel. +358 20 554 5670, expo@niemi.fi.

During the construction time, the goods can be delivered directly to the stand through the service doors open. Check the construction times and the doors that are in use as a logged-in user on the Event Info page.

When you send items to the stand using your own carrier, freight forwarder or courier service, it is advisable that the recipient be at the stand to sign for the shipment. Messukeskus staff cannot sign for your shipments.

If the recipient cannot be reached, the deliverer may return the shipment back to the depot or leave the goods to the stand unsigned. If you wish, you can also arrange for our logistic partner Niemi Event Services to sign in your shipment during the construction time. Contact Niemi Event Services tel. +358 20 554 5670, expo@niemi.fi.

For items sent by mail, we recommend that you use the Parcel to the Doorstep, as they will be delivered directly to your stand if it’s already construction time. If the recipient cannot be reached at the stand or it is not construction time, the delivery arrival notice will be brought to the Exhibition Office and the package itself will be taken to the pick-up point in Pasila (K-Market Pasaati, Asemapäällikönkatu 3) or K-Supermarket Tripla (Tripla Shopping Centre), where it can be picked up against the arrival notification. The postal packages must always be retrieved from the pick-up point itself. Letter deliveries will be delivered directly to the stands. Please note that the post office will retain the package for 7 days of arrival, after which the shipment will be returned to the sender.

For items delivered to the stand, the delivery address should be marked as follows:
Messukeskus Helsinki / Name of the event
Name of the exhibitor, stand number
Contact person and tel. number
Messuaukio 1
FI-00520 HELSINKI, FINLAND

If you have ordered suspensions (e.g. banners or advertising signs) from the Messukeskus Construction Service, the materials must be delivered to the Construction Service by the start of the event’s construction time, on weekdays between 8am and 4pm.

ATA Carnet document
The ATA Carnet is an internationally recognized customs document permitting duty-free and tax-free exportation and importation of goods into countries and territories that have joined the ATA and Istanbul Conventions, for a period of up to one year. The abbreviation ATA is  a combination of the French and English terms “Admission Temporaire/Temporary Admission” and refers to the temporary export of goods.

On a Carnet, you can carry:

  • Commercial samples,
  • Professional equipment and
  • Goods for presentation or use at trade fairs, shows, exhibitions, or similar events.

Read more >>

Mark items delivered to our Construction Service as follows:

Messukeskus Helsinki
Rakennusovi 6.12 / Niemi Messupalvelut / Somistusvarasto / Tel. + 358 20 554 5670
Name of the event
Name of the exhibitor, stand number
Contact person and tel. number
Messuaukio 1
FI-00520 HELSINKI , FINLAND

You can find information on the stands’ construction, dismantling and maintenance hours and available service doors on the event’s website. Please note that, during the construction and dismantling hours, all access to the halls is through the service doors.

Exhibitor passes and constructor passes are digitally delivered passes. Exhibitor passes are valid all the time during the construction, maintenance, event and dismantling hours. Constructor passes are free of charge and valid only during construction and dismantling hours. If you have an exhibitor pass you do not need a separate constructor pass.

You can easily send exhibitor passes and constructor passes via eMessukeskus to you fair team members’ email address and also as an SMS to a smartphone, if you like. First log in to eMessukeskus and then go to My participations and choose your fair participation. You can find Send passes on the left side of the page. The form is in English and Finnish.

The pass can be printed out via the link in the confirmation email either beforehand or in the Exhibition office. To ensure that you are recognised as an exhibitor or a constructor, please keep your pass on view as a printout when moving in the Messukeskus area. In order to be admitted entry, you can show your pass at the entrance also in electronic form. Please keep your pass available.

You will see how many free passes your stand is entitled to on the Stand info page / Orders. You can also send needed amount extra passes but you will be invoiced for them according to their number. If all passes are free of charge it is mentioned on the Send passes page.

Instructions and frequently asked questions >>

If you do not have a pass when you arrive at Messukeskus to build your stand, please contact the Exhibition Office. Please observe that stand construction work can proceed only when the entire participation fee has been paid.

During event construction and dismantling, the exhibition area is unsuitable for children. Please note that we do not allow children to stay in the halls during these times. The rule applies to everyone under the age of 12.

Restaurant services

Behind Messukeskus’ restaurant services is Northern Europe’s leading restaurant operator, Noho Partners, whose Restaurants & Event Catering guarantees high-quality restaurant services wherever and whenever it happens. Galas, parties, meetings, events and of course trade fairs are located on a different side of the hall – so are our restaurants and catering.

It is possible for business customers to pre-order catering for their trade fair stand through the online store. We can grant corporate membership to Finnish companies. Fill out the business customer application here: https://shop.noho.fi/request-org-account
If you want to order booth catering without corporate membership or the company does not have a Finnish business-identification number, you can contact us at messukeskus@noho.fi.

Please notice that for catering services there should be table space at your stand, furniture arrangements can be made through Helsinki Fair Centre at osastopalvelut@messukeskus.com.

You can order electronic food and drink tickets based on QR codes for the amount you want or choose a specific product, the tickets are distributed electronically, or they can also be printed. The ticket serves as a means of payment in selected restaurants, and the tickets of corporate customers are charged according to usage.

It is possible to purchase tickets from the online store without corporate membership also with an advance payment by choosing online payment as the payment method.

To the online store: https://shop.noho.fi/messukeskus

More information about the services for exhibitors:

You can reach the Restaurants & Event Catering sales team by email: messukeskus@noho.fi
or by phone +358 41 732 3712, the sales service is open Mon-Fri from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

If the event is organized somewhere other than Helsinki Messukeskus, please check the information related to restaurant services on the event’s own page.