Europe's largest creative show, CREATIVA, is set to open to the public at Messe Dortmund 's exhibition halls from 19 to 23 March 2025. Following the great success of previous years, the show continues to grow and provides even more space this year – with additional room for an extended supporting programme, more exhibitors, creative workshops and inspiring design options.



Dortmund, 18 March 2025 – CREATIVA, the popular show for the creative community, will again offer a unique opportunity to discover the year's latest innovations in Dortmund over a period of five days. An exciting time full of variety awaits the creative community. From traditional craft techniques to modern applications such as plotting and tufting – the show has everything the creative heart desires and is open to all, bringing creativity to life with hands-on activities, workshops and live demonstrations.

CREATIVA 2025 continues to grow and will occupy even more floor space this year, with lots of room for exhibitors, a diverse supporting programme and creative design options.

Meet-up for creatives – and a big line-up of celebrities

CREATIVA focuses on creativity across all age groups, and there's something for young and old. One example is the exceptional 15-year-old talent Oskar Nittner who will be sharing his passion for creative design and showing that many young people are also enthusiastic about creative craft techniques.

Other popular faces will also be on hand to inspire, including entertainer Julian F.M. Stoeckel, pop star Olaf Henning and content creator Carlo Sommer – known as CasaCarlo – with over 500,000 followers on Instagram. One of the highlights of the weekend will be the first CREATIVA spa thriller, written by Leonie Kramer, the well-known author of handicraft-themed whodunnits.

The central meeting point for the supporting programme will be the CREATIVA Stage in Hall 4.

>> Further information on the supporting programme is available at messe-creativa.de/creativa-stage  

TV presenter Madita van Hülsen will accompany the supporting programme on the CREATIVA Stage at the weekend, welcoming guests such as the current audience favourite Manuela Wisbeck, who appeared in German celebrity bake-off show 'Das große Promibacken'. Further on-stage demonstrations and talks will be held on plotting (Cutting Academy by Plottertante & friends) in Hall 7 and on machine embroidery in Hall 4.

This year's focus trends

Plotting has been a popular handicraft technique among creatives for several years now. What at first sounds rather dry (being defined at www.sewsimple.de as 'applying contours from vector graphics to various foils or plotting on paper'), is in reality a conduit for amazing creativity, opening up incredible possibilities. Well-known content creator Miriam Jug, also known as Plottertante, who has 43,000 followers, will present the various possibilities in a series of demonstrations and talks. Diamond painting is another really creative technique that involves placing small diamonds and glittering stones onto paintings. CREATIVA will feature not just exhibitors, but workshops too.

The new CREATIVA TrendReport will be published again this year, highlighting seven creative trends. These centre on simplicity, "exotic and wild", "fruity and colourful", "super cute", "magically fantastic", vintage and environmental awareness.

SUSTAINABLE CITY: sustainable design ideas

Another focus issue is SUSTAINABLE CITY. Hall 4 is all about sustainable craftsmanship using innovative and environmentally friendly materials. Like last year, SUSTAINABLE CITY is a meeting place for engaging, interacting and learning. As well as plant-based paints and dyes, there are also sustainable ideas for interiors and home gardening.

Machine Embroidery Marketplace at CREATIVA

The Machine Embroidery Marketplace will once again be located in the middle of Hall 4. Machine embroidery continues to be a big trend in the creative community. The marketplace will show how diverse the creative technique is and will include an informative on-stage supporting programme presided over by fashion designers leonid matthias.

>> Further information on the programme line-up is available at www.messe-creativa.de/en-gb/stickstoff-stage 

CREATIVA x CAKE & BAKE

Tickets for CREATIVA can be purchased at shop.messe-creativa.de/webshop/18/tickets. CAKE & BAKE will be held alongside CREATIVA on 22 and 23 March. The ticket is a combined ticket offering the opportunity to visit the popular cake show as well. CAKE & BAKE is all about baking and cake design. Germany's premier cake competition showcases the best creations in the art of cake decorating. Demonstrations, hands-on activities and workshops make the international cake show a central meeting point.