Vaper Expo October 2025 is “postponed”

Vaper Expo October 2025 Show: A Postponement, or a Cancellation in Disguise?

Rumours had been swirling for some time that the Vaper Expo UK, scheduled for October 2025, was in trouble. The main floor plan looked sparse, with many major industry players absent and dozens of empty stands. It seemed as though organisers were making a desperate attempt to fill the vast available spaces with any business, vape-related or not.

On Monday, September 15th, exhibitors received an email confirming what many had suspected: the Expo had been "postponed." The use of the word “postponed” in quotation marks is deliberate; it is the term used by the organisers, but it may not be the most accurate description. At the time of this writing, there has been no public announcement, and tickets for the non-existent event are still unbelievably available for purchase.

For exhibitors who had spent months planning and invested thousands of pounds, and for attendees who had booked travel and hotels, this news came as a devastating blow just five weeks before the event. Months of effort and money have been wasted, leaving many feeling let down.

Let's delve deeper into the term "postponed." Exhibitors pay a significant amount for their stands, ranging from around £800 for a small stand in the Ohm Zone to tens of thousands for larger spaces. The payment schedule requires 25% upon booking, another 25% a few months out, and the final 50% one month before the show. If an event is cancelled, exhibitors are entitled to a refund. However, if it is postponed, they are not.

Vaper Expo has historically been a bi-annual event with shows in May and October. The organisers are now claiming the October show is postponed until May, which was already scheduled to be a show. This raises the question: is it a postponement or a cancellation, given that a May show was already on the calendar? As for travel, hotel, and other associated costs, exhibitors and visitors are left to bear the losses.

The official excuse from Vaper Expo UK is that they "listened to the industry" and decided to shift to a single show per year, in May only. This explanation seems peculiar, as the industry has been advocating for a single annual show since before the pandemic. It’s strange that they would suddenly heed this advice just five weeks before the event. Furthermore, choosing to abandon the October show and keep the May one is an odd decision. May has always been the smaller, quieter show, and it often clashes with other global vape expos, which means it has never attracted the same level of exhibitors and visitors as the October event. This suggests the change was more a necessity than a choice.

What does the future hold? While a definitive answer is impossible, we can make an educated guess. The October show has, in reality, been cancelled—a more accurate term than "postponed"—due to a lack of interest from exhibitors and visitors, likely driven by rising costs, industry uncertainty, and the perception that the Expo no longer meets the needs of its audience. Things are only expected to worsen by May 2026 with new laws, regulations, and taxes on the horizon. This last-minute cancellation has also created significant bad feeling and mistrust towards the organisers. Will businesses and individuals be willing to risk their money and time again for the May show, only to face the potential for another "postponement"? It seems doubtful. The biggest concern remains that if the busier October show couldn't go ahead, the historically quieter May show may not stand a chance.

Our thoughts are with all the exhibitors and visitors who have lost their time and money. You deserved better. We were looking forward to exhibiting with Oscar from Infinite Modz and reconnecting with everyone. We hope to see you all in May, though sadly, we can’t help but feel it may not come to pass.