All the world’s most important Design Festivals and Design Weeks

Design Festivals and Design Weeks are important moments dedicated to both professionals and home design enthusiasts. They are events where cities around the world open their borders to bring the projects of designers and design brands to light.

There are countless types of Design Weeks and festivals around the world dedicated to the sector. Internationally, they take place in big cities such as London, Milan, Paris and New York, but there are also important local events.

Design festivals and Design Weeks around the world

Milan Design Week

Milan Design Week takes place in Milan and is one of the largest and most important design events in the world. The Fuorisalone in Milan 2023 will take place from 17 to 23 April. Milan Design Week takes place in different districts, each of which deals with topics such as craftsmanship, commercial culture, but also technology and experimentation.

Paris Design Week

Simultaneous with the autumn edition of the Maison & Objet fair, Paris Design Week takes place in September in Paris. This is an event held in four Parisian districts. During Paris Design Week, the Le Off event takes place, presenting the most talented French and international designers.

London Design Festival

Every year in September, the London Design Festival takes place in London. Known to Londoners by the acronym LDF, it is one of the biggest and most anticipated events of the year. London’s Design Districts become the stage for unique installations. In particular Design Junction and London Design Fair are two group shows that bring together a selection of international brands and young designers. At the same time as the London Design Festival, London hosts 100% Design, the most important British design fair, Decorex International, specialising in luxury furniture and interior design, and the London Design Biennale.

Another event in London is Clerkenwell Design Week, which in 2023 will be held from 23 to 25 May. Clerkenwell is one of London’s Design Districts full of design studios, art galleries and design showrooms for the home and office.

Vienna Design Week

In September and October, Vienna Design Week takes place in the middle of autumn. Founded in 2007, it is the most important design festival in Austria. The former Sophienspital, an eclectic building from the late 19th century, and the city’s neighbourhoods offer a variety of events for 10 days, spread over several locations.

Barcelona Design Week

Spain opens its doors to Barcelona Design Week in June. For 10 days, Barcelona hosts exhibitions, events, meetings, installations and workshops dedicated to design and the business world: companies, architects, designers and planners, entrepreneurs and end users have the opportunity to confront major topical issues.

Stockholm Design Week

In February in Stockholm, the appointment is with Stockholm Design Week, which together with the Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair, is the world’s leading event dedicated to Scandinavian design. Stockholm Design Week is aimed especially at architects, designers, international influencers and buyers.

New York Design Week

New York Design Week is the world’s most anticipated design event. For two weeks, New York is filled with events dedicated to design culture, showcases products from major international companies and becomes a stage for well-known and up-and-coming designers. During New York Design Week, specific events are organised focusing on a dozen design disciplines such as ICFF High End Luxury Furniture Fair, the fair dedicated to contemporary high-end furniture, Wanted Design, dedicated to emerging design and material innovations, Signt Unseen Offsite, dedicated to avant-garde design, and Brooklin Designs.

Design Shanghai

Design Shanghai is the largest design event on the Asian continent. It brings together more than 400 international brands from 32 countries who present the best of their production to architects, interior designers, distributors, contractors, retailers and design enthusiasts.

Dutch Design Week

In the Netherlands, Dutch Design Week takes place in October in Eindhoven. The so-called DDW is a unique design festival: a great laboratory of ideas where design culture is discussed. Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven is not about design as an object, but as a project and hosts more than 2600 designers in over 100 different locations.

Birmingham Design Festival

The Birmingham Design Festival focuses on the celebration of international, local and British design. Over the four days of the festival, the city of Birmingham is filled with events, workshops, exhibitions and design talks.

Arctic Design Week

Arctic Design Week is the most Nordic design event ever. It takes place in Lapland and is a week full of design talks, workshops, design exhibitions and pop-up design shops. The small town of Rovaniemi’s Design Week deals with a different theme every year.

Design March

Reykjavík is home to the Design March, Iceland’s largest design festival, which hosts hundreds and hundreds of events annually on the themes of home, fashion, architecture and design, as well as food design.

Łódź Design Festival and Gdynia Design Days

The Łódź Design Festival is the most important design event in Eastern Europe. The Polish festival focuses not only on design, but also on graphics, architecture and crafts. The ŁDF programme changes with each edition. Gdynia Design Days also takes place in Poland. GDD is the only summer design festival in Poland during which young designers’ projects have the opportunity to turn into products.

Designblok – Prague International Design Festival

Designblok – Prague International Design Festival, the first and largest design festival in the Czech Republic, takes place in Prague. With over 300 exhibitors, visitors can find hundreds of events including workshops, seminars, debates, theatre and musical performances.

Other Design Weeks from around the world

Also worth mentioning are Singapore Design Week, Melbourne Design Week, Boston Design Week, San Francisco Design Week, Dubai Design Week and Helsinki Design Week – all not to be missed by design professionals and enthusiasts.