The Windhoek Industrial and Agricultural Show (WIAS, short: the Windhoek Show) is an annual trade fair in

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

, the capital of

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. It combines an agricultural exhibition, several industrial and retail offerings, and a range of entertainment facilities. The Windhoek Show was first held in 1899 and is since 1966 conducted annually. Held during the first week of October, the Windhoek Show is the biggest industrial and agricultural exhibition in Namibia. It attracts close to 100,000 visitors per year.

History

The first Windhoek Show was held in 1899 when the country, then known as

German South-West Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...

, was still a colony of

Imperial Germany The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. At that time, it was exclusively an agricultural exhibition. Subsequent fairs were held in 1902, 1910, 1913, and 1914. After the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

South-West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1 ...

came under

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n administration which organised its first post-war Windhoek Show in 1930. In 1934 the Windhoek Show Grounds were laid out, an area between Windhoek's

city centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

and the Suiderhof suburb, next to today's

Maerua Mall The Maerua Mall is a shopping complex in Windhoek, Namibia. Expanded to more than double its original size in 2006, Maerua Mall is now the third largest shopping mall in Namibia and contains a number of retail outlets, including Ackermans, @home ...

. These show grounds were designed primarily to house the Windhoek Industrial and Agricultural Show but the next fair was only held in 1954, and one more show in 1964. A 1961 fair was scheduled but had to be canceled due to a

Foot-and-mouth disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids. The virus causes a high fever lasting two to six days, followe ...

outbreak. During that time the industrial sector was incorporated; originally only through businesses that supplied the agricultural sector but subsequently including a larger portfolio. From 1966 onwards the Windhoek Show became an annual event. Further expansion attempts through splitting several smaller thematic shows from the main event did not become economically viable and were soon discontinued.

References

External links

* {{coord, 22, 34, 57, S, 17, 05, 22, E, region:NA-KH_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Windhoek Trade fairs in Namibia