Leading French Trade Shows and Events

B2B Trade Shows: Where Deals Get Made

These events are 100% professional, designed for producers, distributors, and buyers to meet directly.

SIAL Paris, held at Paris Nord Villepinte, is the world's largest food trade show, drawing over 285,000 professional visitors, 8,000 exhibitors representing 130 countries, at its last edition in October 2024. It's backed by French leaders like Danone, Lactalis, Bel, and Bonduelle, with the official patronage of the French Presidency. For a foreign food or beverage company, this is where you find French distributors and understand what French buyers actually want before committing to the market. 

VivaTech, in Paris, is Europe's largest innovation event, gathering over 200,000 visitors, 4,500 exhibitors representing 165 countries, at its June 2026 edition, with LVMH, BNP Paribas, and Orange as founding partners. For foreign tech companies, it's one of the fastest ways to meet French corporate innovation teams and investors in a single visit. 

Wine Paris, also in Paris, is divided in two events: Be Spirits (spirits, beer, cider, and ready-to-drink beverages), and The Other Sip (no- and low-alcohol drinks) brought together 63,541 visitors and 6,537 exhibitors, representing 169 countries, at its February 2026 edition, with all of France's major wine regions, including Bordeaux, represented. Foreign producers and importers use it to secure French distribution deals that would otherwise take months of individual outreach. 

Pollutec, held in Lyon rather than Paris every two years, is Europe's reference show for energy, waste, and decarbonization solutions, welcoming 51,000 professionals, representing more than 100 countries, at its October 2025 edition. For any foreign company in energy, waste, or clean-tech looking to export to France, Pollutec is where the country's decarbonization budgets meet the people who decide how they're spent. 

Sirha Lyon, held at Eurexpo Lyon, is the world's leading trade show for food service and hospitality, gathering over 257,000 professionals and 2,300 exhibitors at its 2026 edition, alongside prestigious competitions like the Bocuse d'Or. Organized by GL Events, it's a strong complement to Pollutec in positioning Lyon as a major hub beyond Paris. For any foreign company in food service, catering equipment, or hospitality, it's the most direct way to reach French and international restaurant, hotel, and catering buyers in one place. 

Global Industrie, France's largest industrial show, drew around 2,500 professional exhibitors representing 91 countries, to Paris Nord Villepinte for its March–April 2026 edition. It runs under the patronage of the President of the Republic, with Bpifrance and La French Fab as official partners. Foreign manufacturers use it to connect with French industrial buyers and suppliers actively looking to modernize their production. 

JEC World, also at Paris Nord Villepinte, connects the aerospace, automotive, and advanced materials industries with over 45,000 visits at its March 2026 edition, sectors where France, particularly around Toulouse, holds a strong global position. For foreign suppliers, it's the fastest way to get in front of France's aerospace and automotive supply chains. 

Paris Air Show (SIAE), held at Le Bourget every two years, is the world's oldest and largest event dedicated to aerospace, drawing around 322,000 visitors and over 2,400 international exhibitors from 48 countries at its 2025 edition. For foreign aerospace and defense companies, it's the single most important event to meet French and global industry leaders, and to be seen by the decision-makers who shape procurement in this sector. 

Eurosatory, held at Paris Nord Villepinte every two years, is the world's largest trade show for land and air-land defense and security, gathering over 2,633 exhibitors from 67 countries and more than 60,000 professional visitors at its 2026 edition. For foreign defense companies, it's a rare opportunity to meet official government delegations and decision-makers with real procurement budgets, all in one place. 

Trade shows mentioned above are useful benchmarks. They clearly identify and show which sectors are strongest in France and which large-scale events dominate each industry. But attending them is very costly and often works best once you're already established in the market, with a distribution network and brand recognition to make the most of that scale and visibility.

For companies just entering France, we usually recommend something different: smaller, highly targeted conferences or shows built around your exact niche. An example could be when we had a client who sold anti-corrosion paint for airplanes. Sending them to a major aerospace trade show such as the Paris Air Show (SIAE) would have been a very costly decision and possibly a mistake, as the exhibition is too broad, too crowded, and full of the out of target contacts. Instead, we identified for them a small, specialized show focused specifically on anti-corrosion coatings, where every person in the room was a relevant prospect.

This is the approach we build for our clients: not a list of the biggest shows in France, but the right show for where your business actually is. The major events above remain a useful map of where the French market is heading, and a reference for later, once your company has grown into them.

Public and Mixed-Audience Events: Reading French Consumers 

To continue, we have listed some events that combine general public and professional visitors, however they're still among the biggest gatherings in France, offering a real read on where French consumer demand and cultural attention are concentrated at scale. For a foreign company, that scale matters: these are the events where French buying habits and brand loyalty actually get tested in front of hundreds of thousands of people at once.

The Salon International de l'Agriculture, in Paris, is France's largest public event, with 437,402 visitors at its 2026 edition, a reflection of how central agriculture remains to French identity and exports. The show brought together 1,146 exhibitors and received 79 official visits from delegations and dignitaries, underlining its weight as a diplomatic and economic showcase, not just a public gathering. 

The Foire de Paris is the country's biggest general consumer show, drawing over 400,000 visitors to its April to May 2026 edition, focused on home, lifestyle, and "Made in France" products. It's also a genuine international meeting point: its World in Paris section alone gathered 1,200 exhibitors, and the show is increasingly used by European brands as a foothold into the French market.

Paris Games Week, in Paris, highlights France's active video game and creative tech sector, attracting 161,000 visitors at its October to November 2025 edition, with global players like Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox, Ubisoft, Capcom, and Bandai Namco all present. For a foreign company in gaming or interactive entertainment, it's a direct way to test how a French, consumer-facing audience actually responds to your brand.

Choosing the Right Show for Your Market Entry

Entering the French market includes trade shows, not as an afterthought but as one of the steps that gets you there. Whether you're looking for distributors and suppliers or building visibility with French consumers, attending the right show is part of the plan. 

We help you build exactly that. Our market entry plans for France include a tailored list of trade shows matched to your sector and strategy, plus the positioning and preparation you need to make the most of them once you're there.

Talk to us about your project to discuss your project.

Sources: Business France (Sales Dorado); CCI Paris Île-de-France;  GL Event; SIAL; Comexposium; VivaTech; Wine Paris; Pollutec; Global Industrie; JEC World; Salon International de l'Agriculture; Foire de Paris; Paris Games Week