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SPAIN – NOT A FAIR, NOR A CONGRESS, NOR A FESTIVAL: SOMA DEBUTS IN VALENCIA WITH A NEW EVENT FORMAT
What happens when we hold a creative meeting? We stop, we analyze, and at least here at eventoplus, we realize that territories are increasingly overlapping. That a trade fair can look like a festival. That a showroom can become a sports activation. That retail no longer just displays products but wants you to test them, sweat in them, and share them. That a congress can coexist with live classes, brands, community, and business. Right there, SOMA Fitness & Wellness Show appears, having celebrated its first edition this weekend at Feria Valencia. This new event arrives with an especially interesting proposal for those of us observing the evolution of formats. SOMA is not just a fitness fair, nor just a professional congress, nor just a sports festival. It is the sum of all of them in one single space.
From May 7 to 10, 2026, Feria Valencia hosted this debut with more than 50,000 square meters of exhibition space, 150 companies, over 120 presentations, and around 800 hours of guided workouts. It was an ambitious start for an event born with a clear idea: to bring the industry, professionals, and the community together around an experience lived from many angles.
An event to train, to think, and to buy The SOMA proposal rests on three main pillars. The first is SOMA Festival, the most active part of the event. Here, the visitor doesn’t just go to watch; they go to train, try new disciplines, move in groups, and experience fitness from the inside. Classes, guided sessions, and all-day activities turn the venue into a space of continuous energy.
The second is SOMA Congress, the knowledge area. A congress featuring content on training, health, nutrition, physiotherapy, wellness, longevity, business, and sports center management. The program perfectly reflects where the sector is moving. Discussions covered new business models, pricing, artificial intelligence, CRM, talent management, real estate, silver consumers, and how to turn clients into ambassadors.
And the third is SOMA Showroom, perhaps one of the most interesting pieces from an event perspective. Here, the commercial exhibition stops being a static zone and becomes an experience. Brands don’t just show products; they put them in contact with the public, allow them to be tested, contextualize them, and make them part of the overall experience.
The mix of formats as a trend SOMA arrives at a time when events are no longer fitting into closed categories. It is no longer enough to say “fair,” “congress,” or “festival.” We are increasingly seeing hybrid proposals in their language, their journey, and their way of activating the visitor. In this case, fitness allows for an especially natural mix. There is the body, community, product, training, health, business, and lifestyle. Everything can coexist in one place if the event design allows it.
From the gym to the health hub The congress program also provides a clear takeaway: fitness is no longer understood solely as physical training. It is increasingly linked to preventive health, longevity, performance, nutrition, metabolism, physiology, and holistic well-being. This shows how the gym is shifting from being just a room full of machines to becoming a health and wellness hub.
A showroom that increasingly resembles an activation One of the great lessons from SOMA lies in its interpretation of retail. The showroom is no longer just a window for new products; it is a tool for contact, testing, and desire. In a sector where the product is best understood when used, the possibility of testing equipment, technology, or wellness solutions completely changes the relationship between brand and visitor.
For enthusiasts and professionals alike Another differentiating point is its ability to speak to two audiences simultaneously. On one hand, the enthusiast finds a weekend of classes and activities. On the other, the professional finds an environment to discover solutions and generate business relationships. This coexistence brings authenticity that is hard to achieve in purely professional formats.
SOMA as a symptom of what’s to come The first edition of SOMA confirms something we have been observing for a while. The most interesting events are those that dare to mix codes—those that understand that content needs experience, retail needs emotion, and the community needs to feel involved. SOMA is an example of how formats are expanding and cross-contaminating. It is a place where people no longer come just to watch, but to try; not just to listen, but to decide. Business is now built through experience.