The Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show (MANTSĀ®) has announced that the 2021 show, initially scheduled for January 6-8 at the Baltimore Convention Center, will not be held as an in-person event due to COVID-19 concerns and regulations. MANTS organizers are, instead, working to provide an online platform where exhibitors and attendees can conduct business.
It was recently confirmed that the Baltimore Convention Center is not available for the scheduled dates due to its ongoing role as a State of Maryland 250-bed COVID field hospital, which will continue through the end of December. The time required to break down the field hospital and sanitize makes it impractical to assume proper access to the building even if Maryland should change its current restrictions on large-scale indoor gatherings.
āWeāve exhausted all other alternative dates for an in-person show, and while we are disappointed that we canāt meet in person, we are committed to keeping commerce within our industry alive and healthy,” commented MANTS Executive Vice President Vanessa Finney. “MANTSā continued support of our show sponsors, the State Nursery and Landscape Associations of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia is critical despite the pandemic.ā
The Horticulture Industry has remained strong with interest in gardening especially on the rise across the country due to quarantine. Finney said, “…over the next few weeks, we are working on an alternate way to keep that business relationship between exhibitor and buyer healthy and available through 2021.ā Additional details on MANTS 2021 plans will be shared in the weeks to come.