12th Annual Brazil Gem Show, Governador Valadares, MG, June 25-28 2009

UPDATE:  THE SHOW IN GOVERNADOR VALADARES WAS CANCELLED.

THE FIPP2009 WILL GO ON!  THE GEM FAIR IN TEÓFILO OTONI WILL BE HELD ON 25-28 AUGUST 2009!!!

Below is the text of the press release for the upcoming annual gem show in Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, Brazil, to be held on June 25-28, 2009. The exhibition center will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 25th is a Thursday, and most of the big spenders will come in at least one day before the show to see if they can pick up everything they want and leave before the lesser mortals show up. June 28th is a Sunday and is likely to be the day when the local public are allowed to come in and look around. (This is pretty much the same thing that occurs in Teófilo Otoni in August.) Now, differently from Teófilo Otoni, there are not many places to sit and haggle over bargains on the final day. In Teófilo Otoni, the gem show ends on a Saturday, and exhibitors will already begin to pack up on that day. But, I happen to know that if you stay until Sunday, you can go to the praça and continue to pick up good deals, if you make arrangements beforehand. There is really no convenient way to do this in Governador Valadares.

I have a few words to say about the text below. You will note that it says they had 15,000 visitors. Hmmm, I would really like to know how they came up with that figure. My friend, Natasha and I were there in 2007, and it was fairly slow. Natasha has been attending since 2006, and she reported back that 2008 was very, very slow. Things were very nice at the shows in Teófilo Otoni in August 2005 and 2006, but after that, attendance at both shows has dropped off a lot. If there were 15,000 attending, last year, then most likely they were locals. During the first few days of the show, only registered visitors, dealers, and exhibitors are permitted to enter. On the final day, the local public may enter. That might account for the attendance figure. Generally, the locals hardly buy anything -- after all, they live in a gem center all year round, and prices during the show are much higher than they are during the rest of the year.

Now, let's talk about the "180 exhibitors." Hmmm, not inside the main exhibition hall (there are two floors), I would say. But, just outside under tents, there are the smaller sellers of less precious stones and minerals. You can get some good buys on mineral crystals, rose quartz, smoky quartz (also known as "morion" here), dendritic quartz, agates, etc. But, the "good stuff" is inside.

The exhibition hall is situated just up from the bank of a river, making it a very picturesque spot in an area otherwise mostly devoid of natural beauty (the region is largely deforested). However, this year, there has been an absolutely astounding amount of rain, so everything should be very lush and green as opposed to the years of drought. This reminds me that I should check into the situation of the river since so many areas of Brazil are flooding due to the abnormal quantity of rainfall.

One thing that you should know about Governador Valadares is that it is hot! I mean, really hot! And humid! The interior of the exhibition hall is not air conditioned but has a system of misters hanging down from the high ceilings that sprays a fine mist of water into the air. This actually cools things down inside the hall, which gets heated up due to the high-intensity spots that many exhibitors use to show off their wares. But be prepared to sweat!

On the backside of the exhibition hall, there is a large restaurant with pretty good food, and you can sit outside on the ample balcony, resting your feet while overlooking the river, and where there is usually a nice breeze -- very nice and refreshing, indeed!

12th Annual Brazil Gem Show

The world of precious stones trading is here.

Latin America’s largest gem show, the Brazil Gem Show is held in Governador Valadares, one of the major mineral and stones extraction areas in the world. It success in attracting public, attractions and trading have made it a great opportunity to do business with hundreds of exhibitors who offer a large variety of gems and precious stones of incomparable quality. A success in public attendance, attractions and sales, the show is one of the biggest trading opportunities, with hundreds of exhibitors who offer a large variety of incomparable quality gems and precious stones.

The largest gem show in Latin America

Visitors from 22 countries
13 Brazilian states
180 exhibitors
15 thousand visitors

A show of opportunities

The show presents visitors with the trends, products and development policies for the precious stone industry. In a single venue, the visitor will find a wide variety of Brazilian stones, which are the highlight in the domestic and international markets.

The Brazil Gem Show is a Sindijóias Ajomig event (the Minas Gerais Syndicate and Association of Jewelers, Precious Stone, Watch and Fashion Jewelry Traders) and IBGM, the Brazilian Gems and Jewellery Trade Association in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism, the Government of the State of Minas Gerais, the International Colored Gemstone Association (ICA), the Governador Valadares Municipal Government, FIEMG (Minas Gerais State Industrial Federation), Apex Brasil (Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency) and Sebrae-MG (Brazilian Support Agency to Micro and Small Companies).

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Link to this page: http://www.brazilgemshow.com/en/brazilgemshow.htm

This link will take you to a page where you can sign up to receive upcoming information: http://www.brazilgemshow.com/en/index.htm

Here you can sign up to be a visitor (this is a good idea since you need to register to be permitted to enter -- however, I believe that registration can also be done onsite, provided someone brings you inside and past the security at the main entrance): http://www.brazilgemshow.com/en/beavisitor.htm

Here you can sign up to be an exhibitor (not free and not cheap): http://www.brazilgemshow.com/en/becomeanexhibitor.htm

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Here is some additional information concerning the 2006 show -- 2006 was really a high point in both Governador Valadares and Teófilo Otoni. Let us all hope that such good times return!

Exhibitors and Visitors

The Brazil Gem Show is an event aimed at two different kinds of public:

The main exhibition area with stands and other facilities for gems and jewells trade, exclusivelly open to previously registered professionals with credentials such as exhibitors, traders, designers, buyers, dealers, exporters, newspeople and authorities. The outside area, with restaurants, veranda, hancrafted products exhibition and commerce, workshops and seminars halls will have public free access, representing a large number of visitors from regional communities such as from Valadares, Teófilo Otoni, Ipatinga, Belo Horizonte. The previous exhibition, the 10th Brazil Gem Show represented a big sucess as for public attendance, events and sales. The 2006 Show had 150 exhibitors, 3,500 visitors with credentials and a major 14,000 people flow of visitors to the event.

Link: http://www.brazilgemshow.com/en/brazilstones.htm