Commercial from 30 countries at the 3rd Shopping Festival in Kastoria
The 3rd Shopping Festival, held at the International Fur Center in Kastoria from 1 to 3
November, drew in commercial buyers from 30 countries this year. Some of the
biggest fur businesses from Greece and abroad made up the 80 Exhibitors.
The majority of the commercial buyers came from former-Eastern Bloc countries
(59.93% from Russia and 16.81% from Ukraine), while buyers from Europe and the
USA were also present. Significant trade deals were made, as buyers were able to
choose from a wide range of merchandise (fur garments, leather goods and fur
accessories) available at the Festival.
More specifically, according to data gathered by means of the bar code system, a
total of 365 commercial buyers from 30 countries passed through the International
Fur Center gates for the duration of the three-day Festival. These countries were
Albania, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kiribati (Micronesia), Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lithuania,
the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Moldavia, Poland, Qatar,
Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, and the
UK.
At the same time, Festival visitors had the opportunity to enjoy two delightful music
events scheduled by the organizers, to relax and have a drink in the Rest Area
created within the exhibition space, and to visit the History Room, the special stand
created in cooperation with Thomas Mandakasis Academy of Arts and Letters to
document the history of the International Fur Fair.
On the occasion of the 3rd Fur Shopping Festival, the Board of Directors of the
Hellenic-Chinese Chamber had a meeting, which was held outside Attica for the first
time, so that furriers/entrepreneurs could raise issues concerning the vast Chinese
market, which is of great interest to the fur sector.
The organizers also received Director of the Kastoria Fashion Design Institute
Apostolis Tziotzis, along with the institute’s students to discuss specializing in the
design of leather and fur garments in order to breathe new life into the West
Macedonia fur industry.
The 3rd Fur Shopping Festival was organized by the Kastorian Fur Association, TIF-
HELEXPO and the Kastoria West Macedonia Regional Unit, under the aegis of the
Ministry of Agricultural Development.
Some of the most significant fur auction houses displayed their support, including
NAFA, SAGA και Kopenhagen Fur, as well as Enterprise Greece, and the
municipalities of Kastoria and Argos Orestikou.

Next year’s event, the 4th Fur Shopping Festival, has been scheduled for 31th

October – 2 November, 2019