DMEXCO — DMEXCO has been a meeting place for international thought- and opinion leaders in the digital economy for many years.

What DMEXCO 2026 is about

DMEXCO is the trade fair and conference of the digital economy. It takes place once a year in Cologne, where exhibitors present their products in the halls while the conference program runs on the stages. The theme of DMEXCO 2026 is Scaling Intelligence.

Dates, opening hours and venue

• Wednesday, September 23, 2026: 09:00 to 18:30
• Thursday, September 24, 2026: 09:00 to 17:30
• Venue: Koelnmesse, Messeplatz 1, 50679 Cologne, Germany

Opening hours and the site plan come from Koelnmesse, which publishes both on dmexco.com.

What the BVDW does at DMEXCO

The BVDW (Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft), the German association for the digital economy, owns the DMEXCO brand and backs the event as its conceptual sponsor. It is also responsible for the content of the congress trade fair: which topics the conference covers, and which formats carry them. Koelnmesse runs DMEXCO commercially.

On site, the association brings its own formats and its own stand. They are curated rather than open to all, because the BVDW picks the cases that are shown as well as the people who get a seat.

BVDW formats at DMEXCO 2026

The BVDW Summits

Two of the DMEXCO summits are curated by the BVDW, and both run on Wednesday, 23 September. The DMEXCO Creativity Summit, powered by DDA, takes the Agencies Stage in hall 8 from 14:00 to 18:15 and asks what artificial intelligence does to the value of creative work. On the Media Stage, from 14:00 to 18:00, the DMEXCO Retail & Commerce Media Summit, powered by BVDW, looks for retail media numbers that can be compared across retailers. The Creativity Summit programme

BVDW Masterclasses

Experts from BVDW member companies present cases from their own work. Every session runs 30 minutes and sits in the DMEXCO conference program, where you also find the stage and the time. BVDW Masterclasses in the DMEXCO program

Learning Journeys

A Learning Journey is a guided visit to one exhibitor, where someone from the company walks a small group through a real case from their own work. Each journey lasts 30 minutes: 10 with the tour host at the starting point, then 20 at the exhibitor. For trade visitors there is no extra cost, and you can apply without a DMEXCO account.

Young Innovator Challenge

Students from Hochschule Düsseldorf work on real business challenges for months and then pitch their solutions on stage, in front of a jury and the DMEXCO audience. Wednesday, 23 September, 17:45 to 18:30. Young Innovator Challenge

On other DMEXCO stages

The association also speaks where it does not curate. BVDW president Dirk Freytag takes the Center Stage on Wednesday, 23 September, from 14:00 to 14:30. On Thursday, a panel on the Creators Stage asks what drives the creator economy in 2027, from 10:00 to 10:30, and a panel on the Innovation Stage looks at how the effect of consent can be measured, from 14:30 to 15:00.

BVDW stand S B002

The BVDW stand is on the Boulevard between halls 7 and 8. Every Learning Journey starts here, which also makes the stand the easiest place to reach the association during the two days.

The day before: 22 September

DMEXCO opens on 23 September, but Cologne starts a day earlier. The Online Ad Summit, the annual meeting of the AdTech community, fills 22 September at Maritim Hotel Köln. That evening the BVDW and Microsoft invite guests to a rooftop in Cologne for talks on artificial intelligence, followed by food, drinks and live music. Registration is separate for each. Online Ad Summit

Tickets for DMEXCO 2026

Koelnmesse sells the tickets for DMEXCO 2026 on dmexco.com. If you want to join a Masterclass or a Learning Journey on site, you need a ticket for the fair, because both take place on the fairground.

Looking at the program costs nothing. You can browse the sessions and apply for a Learning Journey before you buy a ticket, and you need no DMEXCO account for either.