The World Wrap Masters Series will take place on stand P40 in hall A4 on every day of the event at Messe Munich, Germany from 14 to 17 May.
The final regional qualifying event, Wrap Masters Europe, will take place on 14 and 15 May, where up to 40 wrappers will compete, wrapping cars and a variety of items in a series of timed competitions, to win the title of European Wrap Master.
This will involve participants from 12 countries, including the UK, Japan, Hungary, Italy, Mexico and South Africa.
Battling it out against the winners of the regional heats at Fespa Africa, Fespa Mexico, Fespa Eurasia, Asia Print Expo and Fespa Brasil, the European Wrap Master and the two runners up will go on to compete in the World Wrap Masters Series Final on Thursday 16 and Friday 17 May, in a bid to be crowned World Wrap Master 2019.
In addition to cars, competitors will be tasked with wrapping other challenging items, which will be announced on the day to add an element of surprise. Last year items included race helmets, chairs and lockers.
Fespa head of events Duncan MacOwan said: “World Wrap Masters is an opportunity for wrappers to get their hands on the latest materials and show off their skills.
“They also really value the opportunity to connect with each other. Fespa is a very international event and around the fringes of Wrapmasters at the show you will always see wrappers talking, comparing techniques and sharing tips and tricks of how they do it in their locale.”
He added: “Aside from that, from a business perspective it’s a great opportunity for those that win or place highly in the competition to establish and reaffirm their credentials as experts in their field, which helps them win new business and reassure existing customers that they are with the right company.
“This is a growing application area so printers as a whole are interested to learn more about it. The demos are popular but it’s also the only place you can see the best wrappers in the world showing off their skills in the cauldron of the competition in the public eye.”
Sponsored by Hexis, Mimaki, Wrap Gear and Car Wrapper 3D, the competition will be judged by vehicle wrap experts including two time world champion Kiss Lajos of Fixfolia from Hungary, Martina Lorenz of AQASIO Folienverklebung in Germany, Jeremy Conner, owner of US company Who Did That!?!, and Carlos Ruiz from Spain.
Lajos will also host free training workshops and demonstrations on the stand at 1pm each day, with topics covered including ‘The future of wrapping’, ‘Wrap designer, from creativity to technique’ and ‘World Wrap Masters: The Journey’.
MacOwan said that spaces are filling up fast but those still wishing to enter the competition can visit: bit.ly/fespa-wwm.
