Long the operator of the largest woodworking trade show in the Western Hemisphere, the International Woodworking Fair Atlanta has announced it will produce a new show in Texas in 2027.

IWF West is slated to debut August 25-27, 2027 in San Antionio in what IWF said is an effort to serve the “rapidly expanding West/Southwest marketplace.” According to a press release, “The new show, which will include a broad selection of educational and social/networking events echoing the Atlanta conference programming, will bring the best of the Atlanta product mix together with manufacturers making their IWF debut. But the San Antonio event will also deliver its own unique blend of features and focus, separate and apart from Atlanta.”

Organizers said a key feature of the new show will be a “concentrated three-day show scheduled for convenience, efficiency, and impact.”

Targeted exhibitors will be a mix of IWF Atlanta exhibitors and new first-time exhibitors representing a mix of machinery, machinery related products and services, components, supplies and non-machinery related products.

IWF said the show will offer a “more relaxed show environment, in pace and scale, allowing buyers time to explore the products and services they might have missed at IWF Atlanta.”

IWF West also plans to offer “enhanced networking opportunities” and “customized business-building learning and professional development opportunities featuring wood products technology and design experts in an intimate setting geared toward education.”

The new IWF West and IWF Atlanta are sponsored by the Wood Industry Association (WIA). Both IWF Atlanta and IWF West are produced and managed by Atlanta-based IWF.

According to IWF, independent initial research with IWF exhibitors and attendees supports the new Western show in Texas. A study by MMR Research in August 2025 reported 56 percent or respondents like the IWF West show concept, and 64 percent supported the San Antonio location and timing. In separate research, IWF reported that 63 percent of buyers attending the 2024 IWF in Atlanta endorsed the Texas show proposal.

IWF West will be held at the Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio’s historic district. According to IWF, “San Antonio is ideally located for easy access from throughout Texas as well as key western states like Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California.”
IWF Atlanta has a long history of operating in even-numbered years in Atlanta, while the AWFS Fair in Las Vegas has operated in odd-numbered years, with the 2027 AWFS event slated for mid-July, which would be about six weeks ahead of the new Texas show. That likely represents new competition for the AWFS show.

Asked for a reaction to the news, Angelo Gangone, executive vice president, Association of Woodworking & Furnishings Suppliers (AWFS), said the announcement was “no surprise.” He said AWFS would have an official comment “soon.”

When the Woodworking Industry Association (WIA) was formed in January 2024 by the merger of the Wood Machinery Manufacturers of America (WMMA) and the Woodworking Machinery Industry Association (WMIA), there had been some talk about also including a merger with AWFS, but that part of the deal never materialized.