Find the edition, not just the event name
Start with the organiser website and locate the year, venue and dates for the edition you intend to attend. A homepage may already promote the next show while a linked programme still describes the previous one. A current footer date does not establish that every page has been updated.
Save the source URL and the date you checked it. Before making a non-refundable commitment, confirm again using the current official practical-information page. Search snippets and third-party calendars are useful discovery tools, but they can retain older details after an organiser changes them.
Work out what each date range describes
Some events combine an exhibition with conferences, media access or educational days. GITEX GLOBAL publishes a separate summit day and exhibition dates. CES lists media days separately from exhibit hours. AIME identifies Knowledge Monday before its two trade-show days. The full programme span is not necessarily public exhibition access.
Select dates for your role: visitor, exhibitor, speaker, buyer or contractor. Exhibitors must also account for build-up and breakdown, which belong in the exhibitor manual rather than the general visitor schedule. Check admission and appointment commitments alongside the timetable.
Verify the building as carefully as the city
Events can relocate between venues or alternate host cities. The London Book Fair currently identifies Excel London for its displayed edition. Fine Food Australia currently promotes Sydney after its Melbourne edition. Old travel instructions can therefore be wrong even when the event name and organiser remain unchanged.
For a multi-site event, check where the relevant sector, meeting or session takes place. Record the full venue name and the entrance appropriate to your activity. The delivery address may differ from the visitor entrance.
Resolve a conflict rather than choosing a convenient answer
If the organiser homepage, registration page and venue calendar disagree, compare their edition and update information. Look for an explicit change announcement. Do not silently select the date that appears most often or project a recurring annual pattern into an unannounced edition.
Ask the organiser to resolve the discrepancy before booking. Until then, mark the dates as unconfirmed in your own plan. A missing date means that a commitment cannot yet be supported; it does not mean the event has been cancelled.
Keep the rest of the plan aligned
Once dates are confirmed, check calendar invitations, accommodation, staff rotas, supplier bookings and delivery instructions against the same edition. For international arrangements, use the local event timezone and make travel-day changes visible. Retain a previous edition as history rather than relabelling it as the next one.
This directory records source checks, not a guarantee that dates will never change. Follow the official route on each listing for registration and the latest operating information. Report a discrepancy through our correction route so the record can be checked at its source.
Sources and research basis
Sources checked 2026-10-17. Supplier capabilities and venue specifications are attributed to their published documentation. No first-hand test or visit is implied.