50 years ago on the 27th November -  it is a typical foggy November day, in the middle of the Rhineland in the German North Rhine-Westphalia region, when the first boot Düsseldorf opens its gates. Just 116 exhibitors are on board in the exhibition halls on Fischerstraße. But right from the start the people in Düsseldorf were enthusiastic about "their" boat show.

Two passionate water sports enthusiasts ignited the spark. The journalist Horst Schlichting and fair boss Kurt Schoop developed from a crazy idea the concept of a boat show in Germany's most populous federal state. The result was something to be proud of! 33,000 people embarked on their first voyage into the world of boats and yachts and were excited about the boot Düsseldorf. Soon it will become a media attraction and thus also offer international celebrities an excellent presentation platform. And the list of aristocratic and illustrious visitors is top-class: King Carl Gustav and Queen Silvia, Prince Rainier and his son Albert, King Harald of Norway, Prince Edward of Great Britain, Greek Minister of Culture, actress Melina Mercouri or surf stars such as Robbie Naish and Björn Dunkerbeck were among the guests in Düsseldorf.

But not only the boot celebrates a round birthday this year. Also her ship crane "Big Willi", named after his godparent, the former NRW minister of interior Willi Weyer, "rounds off" this year. He has been working for boot Düsseldorf for 40 years and in December and January he lifts nearly 40 boats and yachts out of the floods of the Rhine and carefully deposits them on a low-loader that transports the precious cargo to the exhibition halls.

With almost 250,000 visitors, boot Düsseldorf is the world's largest boat and water sports fair and every year in January the “meeting place" for the entire industry. From 18 to 26 January 2020, around 2,000 exhibitors will be presenting their interesting new products, attractive further developments and maritime equipment. This means that the complete market will be on site in Düsseldorf and will be inviting visitors on nine days of the fair to an exciting journey through the entire world of water sports in 17 exhibition halls covering 220,000 square meters. With a focus on boats and yachts, engines and engine technology, equipment and accessories, services, canoes, kayaks, kitesurfing, rowing, diving, surfing, wakeboarding, windsurfing, SUP, fishing, maritime art, marinas, water sports facilities as well as beach resorts and charter, there is something for every water sports enthusiast.

The advance ticket sales for boot Düsseldorf have started. From now on boot fans can really save money when buying their tickets. The biggest advantage is for boot.club members, because in addition to great offers and competitions throughout the year, they can buy tickets to the fair for a reduced prize. Thus the on-line ticket costs only 17.00 € for the members. In addition to this financial advantage, boot.club members can use the cool boot.club Lounge with free WLAN during the fair. The boot visit can start relaxed with a coffee in the lounge. Here's the link to the boot.club membership: http://bit.ly/boot2020bootclub .

If you want to travel to boot together with your friends, you can also buy a ticket for 17.00 € per ticket. This applies to groups of five or more people.

The easiest way to have a short look at boot Düsseldorf is from Monday to Thursday afternoon from 2 pm. Then the ticket costs only 10.00 €. All admission tickets can be ordered at http://bit.ly/boot2020ticket.

The most relaxing trip to boot is by public transport. And with the online-ticket it is also free of charge. This applies to travel to and from the Düsseldorf exhibition grounds by Rheinbahn in the tariff zone of the Rhine-Ruhr public transport system (VRR, 2nd class, in surcharge-free trains in price level D).