More than 57,500 attendees from 126 countries came together in Nuremberg, Germany, for the 74th Spielwarenmesse this week.

The world’s largest toy trade fair, held from Jan. 28-Feb. 1, 2025, featured 2,362 exhibitors from 71 countries, each presenting their latest new products and innovations across nearly every category of play imaginable.

Notably, the expanded category selection and rearrangement of the halls led to increased booth activity and activations from exhibitors of all sizes.

“The continuous marked improvement in content at the Spielwarenmesse was clearly appreciated,” says Christian Ulrich, Board Spokesperson at Spielwarenmesse eG.

At this year’s ITMA Annual Meeting, Ulrich told members of The International Toy Magazine Association that 576 first-time exhibitors participated in the event and that U.S. attendance spiked 10%. Now, U.S. companies rank No. 7 on the list of exhibitors making the annual trek to Nuremberg, and retail buyers are right there with them.

“The big American retailers such as Target and Walmart had intensive conversations with the teams from our HQ,” said Thomas Eichhorn, Managing Director of Germany’s MGA Zapf Creation in a post-show statement.

Highlights this year included the expanded array of outdoor toys, baby and infant products, and lifestyle items, while the Toys for Kidults and ToyTrends displays for Anime & Friends and Healthy Heroes drew a ton of foot traffic.

Throughout the week, there were activities for everyone, including Fireside Chats, educational programming, and the ToyAwards, ToyNight, and RedNight events.

Next year, Spielwarenmesse celebrates its 75th birthday when it opens its doors from Jan. 27-31, 2026. Visit spielwarenmesse.de for information and tickets.