From 22 to 24 September 2026, BoxtoberFest brought more than 700 self storage professionals to the RheinMain CongressCenter in Wiesbaden-Frankfurt. After nine years, the FEDESSA Conference & Trade Show was back in Germany: a facility tour, a welcome feast in a 12th-century monastery, two days of sessions, a sold-out trade show and the LagerMeister Awards Night. Here is a look back.
| 700+ attendees |
57 exhibitors |
460 at the Eberbach Feast |
8 industry awards |
TUESDAY 22 SEPTEMBER
Lager Crawl and the Eberbach Feast
BoxtoberFest kicked off with the Lager Crawl, a facility tour of Shurgard Wiesbaden and MyPlace Wiesbaden that ended with a toast at Schloss Henkell. In the evening, 460 guests travelled to Kloster Eberbach, a 12th-century monastery, for the Welcome Dinner, sponsored by Stellar Storage Containers, with entertainment sponsored by Gallagher.
Lager Crawl · Facility tourTwo facilities and one surprise stop: Shurgard Wiesbaden, with more than 700 storage rooms over four floors, then MyPlace Wiesbaden, serving the city since 2008, and finally Schloss Henkell, home of the Henkell Freixenet sparkling wine house. |
The Eberbach Feast · Welcome DinnerMedieval musicians led guests into the basilica, where the St. Florian Men's Choir sang dressed as monks, then returned in suits for an a cappella set. Among the singers: Martin Wild of Kinnovis.
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WEDNESDAY 23 & THURSDAY 24 SEPTEMBER
Conference sessions
Host Mark Durden-Smith guided two days of sessions in Halle Nord, from the economy and investment to technology, customer experience and security.
| WEDNESDAY Economic Outlook Jörg Rocholl, economist · sponsored by Prorize The economic picture for Europe and what it means for self storage. |
WEDNESDAY Annual Industry Survey: launch & insights FEDESSA & CBRE First look at the 2026 European Self Storage Industry Report. |
| WEDNESDAY International Panel: a global view With Dr. John McGlynn, Storage Vault Investment, growth and building a brand from the ground up. |
WEDNESDAY Panel: the institutional investor's view With Neil Newman-Shepherd, NNS Consulting What institutional capital really thinks about self storage in 2026. |
| WEDNESDAY Building self storage for the future Ollie Saunders, Savills Technology, scale and institutionalisation: what future-proofing means in practice. |
THURSDAY The Mountaineer's Mindset Bonita Norris · sponsored by JLL Lessons in resilience and goal-setting from the mountains. |
Other speakers included Janine Krakow (storemore), Ken Hughes and Sam Kennard (Kennards Self Storage).
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The Boxtober Markt
The trade show floor was sold out, with 57 suppliers showing their latest products and services in Halle Nord. Digital First kept the coffee flowing from the Barista Bike, and Space Manager powered the Conference App. Major Sponsor Janus International Europe used the show to launch Nokē Infinite.
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THURSDAY 24 SEPTEMBER · 19:30
The LagerMeister Awards Night
The closing night went full Oktoberfest, with lederhosen, dirndls and the first Trachten Trophy for the best-dressed guest. Bearbox sponsored the wine and Prorize the entertainment: professional lederhosen breakdancers. Eight FEDESSA Industry Awards were presented.
| 🏆 INDEPENDENT STORE OF THE YEAR Think Storage, Lisburn (NI) Sponsored by OpenTech Alliance |
🏆 MULTI-SITE OPERATOR STORE OF THE YEAR Space Station, Garretts Green (UK) Sponsored by Janus |
| 🏆 EXTERNAL STORAGE SITE OF THE YEAR Blue Self Storage, Treforest, Pontypridd Sponsored by STREPPEL |
🏆 MANAGER OF THE YEAR Blanca Guinovart, Zebrabox Sponsored by Selfstorage Systeme |
| 🏆 EXPANSION OR CONVERSION OF THE YEAR storemore Hortaleza, Madrid Sponsored by Stora |
🏆 MARKETING CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR storemore Germany · "Space is not a Product, Space is a Solution." Sponsored by S4S Nordic |
| 🏆 SUSTAINABILITY AWARD storemore Sponsored by Kinnovis |
🏆 INNOVATION AWARD iBidOnStorage · Auction Lens Sponsored by Space Manager |
VIDEO
The BoxtoberFest 2026 aftermovie
MEMORIES
Photo gallery
Find all the photos from the facility tour, the sessions, the trade show and both dinners in our album.
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THANK YOU
Our sponsors and exhibitors
A huge thank you to every attendee, speaker, sponsor and exhibitor who made BoxtoberFest 2026 a week worth replaying, and especially to our Major Sponsor, Janus International Europe.
NEXT STOP
See you in Rome, 5–7 October 2027
Next year, FEDESSA heads to La Nuvola in Rome for the Conference & Trade Show 2027. Save the dates!