April Fools?
With trade shows running the gamut on every topic from Satan to "Star Trek," the exhibition industry can sometimes seem unreal. That's why we challenge you to guess which of these shows are fact and which are fake. When you're finished, you might be convinced that truth really is stranger than fiction.
By Charles Pappas
|
3. Cookbook Fair
You can feast on sessions about Spanish hams and binding luxury cookbooks, while sampling the 250 available libations from an on-site microbrewery at this show.
|
1. Reproductive Health New
Technologies & Products Expo
To mark World Population Day, this expo offers models in wedding gowns, evening dresses, and
skimpy bikinis made of nothing
but condoms.
|
2. Pork Congress
This trade show offers a "PSI: Pig Scene Investigation" course to help attendees sleuth out why their swine went belly up.
|
4. Reality Rocks Expo
Meet your favorite stars from "Top Chef" to "Hardcore Pawn," pitch your idea for a reality show, and even audition to become the next Honey Boo Boo at this television-themed expo.
|
5. International Cannabis & Hemp Expo
Cheech and Chong would feel right at home at this event, with its THC-laced chocolate bananas, $500 water bongs, and joint-rolling competitions.
|
6. LockCon
Attendees learn many useful skills at this event, such as how to make keys from 3-D printers that will open any pair of police handcuffs in the world.
|
8. International Congress
of Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy
The spellbinding courses at this
show include how the comics depict hypnosis, how to perform age
regression, and tips to reverse cancer.
|
7. American Mosquito Control
Association Annual Meeting
No one bugs out early at this event, where attendees study how to control the pests by making houses for mosquito-munching bats
to hunt from.
|
9. Society of Professional
Obituary
Writers Convention
No one speaks ill of the dead, especially at this show, where the best obit writers in the country are awarded the Oscars of their profession, known as the Grimmies.
|
10. World's Fair of Money
Money isn't everything – except at this trade show, where coin dealers show off $100,000 bills, display gold coins worth $15 million, and generate nearly $50 million in show-floor sales.
|
11. Erotica Lifestyles Expo
This show sponsors an annual topless Boobs on Bikes Parade watched by nearly 100,000 spectators.
|