Funexpo · 2026

Agoris analysis · updated October 2026

Key facts

• Funexpo is the trade show for funeral directors, monumental masons and embalmers: suppliers from across the funeral industry present their offer to their customers for three days in Lyon. It describes itself as a trade show organised by funeral directors and for funeral directors.
• Next edition: Wednesday 18 to Friday 20 November 2026, at Eurexpo Lyon, hall 3.2. Open 9:30am to 7:00pm on the first two days, 9:30am to 6:00pm on Friday. Free entry, reserved for funeral industry professionals, on registration.
• New for 2026: for the first time, the trade show takes place on weekdays, Wednesday to Friday. The organiser states that this change was welcomed by 77% of exhibitors.
• Organiser: the FFPF, the French Federation of Funeral Directors (Fédération Française des Pompes Funèbres), a trade association of independent companies in the sector. The trade show is co-organised with Infopro Digital, a B2B group whose subsidiary ETAI SAS publishes the official website.
• Biennial, held in even-numbered years in November, just after All Saints' Day.
• Results of the last edition, 21 to 23 November 2024 at Eurexpo Lyon: 160 exhibitors, 64 of them new, and over 4,000 visitors. For 2026, the organiser announces 150 exhibitors.
• Not to be confused with Funéraire Paris, the other major trade show of the industry, organised by the Syndicat de l'Art Funéraire at Le Bourget in odd-numbered years. The two events alternate: Funexpo is the only one of the two held in 2026.

Who exhibits

Typical profile

The offer covers the whole funeral chain. The February 2026 press release structures it into seven areas: funeral equipment and presentation items; marble work, monuments and materials; funeral vehicles and logistics; technology, software and digital services; family services and support; training, insurance and professional services; general suppliers and distribution.

In practice, you will meet coffin and coffin-lining makers, granite masons and bronze founders, hearse coachbuilders, specialists in funeral refrigeration and embalming, developers of management software for funeral directors, insurers of funeral plans and a growing range of digital services, often grouped under the label death tech. The official nomenclature also includes categories for the death of pets and for DNA preservation.

The trade show remains human in scale: the commercial argument put forward is that funeral directors can take the time to place orders on site, at the end of the year, to complete their orders and anticipate those of 2027.

Notable exhibitors

The 2026 exhibitor list is published on the official website and can be filtered by theme. Among the companies registered for 2026 that the organiser has interviewed are Atelier du Pilat, Granits Michel Maffre, Granits Senegats, Carbone 14 (funeral software), Funeup, Stonest, Verso Obsèques, Obsèques Impayées and GPG Granit and Isofroid, of the Seiven group. The FFPF itself has a stand, C99.

Visitor quality

The trade show is exclusively reserved for funeral industry professionals. The organiser ranks its visitors as follows, in descending order: independent and networked funeral directors, funeral marble works, funeral homes, local authorities (public funeral services, cemeteries), embalmers, transport and ambulances, cremation and columbarium sites, crematoriums, hospitals and care homes.

The 2024 results provide two indicators of visitor qualification: 44% of visitors hold executive roles (CEO, managing director, manager, director) and 75% work for an independent funeral director. This is the hallmark of the trade show, backed by the federation of independents. The extract of the 2024 visitor list published by the organiser also mixes family funeral directors, marble works, public funeral bodies and municipal services of major cities.

No OJS certification or third-party audit of attendance is published: the figures are those provided by the organiser.

Events & community

Conference programme

The 2026 programme is published. It announces the following conferences, most of them in the conference room:

• Wednesday 18 November, 2:00pm: “Funéraire animalier” (funeral care for pets), on this activity and its place in the profession;
• Thursday 19 November, 10:30am: “Tous les corps sont-ils montrables” (can all bodies be shown), by Alain Koninckx, independent embalmer, on the presentation of the deceased and its role in the grieving process;
• Thursday 19 November, 2:00pm: “Histoire des pompes funèbres et du “104”” (history of funeral services and of the “104”), by Bruno Bertherat, senior lecturer at the University of Avignon;
• Friday 20 November, 2:00pm: “Thanatopraxie et l'environnement” (embalming and the environment), again by Alain Koninckx.

A sculpture workshop led by Ugo Panico offers, on Wednesday and Thursday, an introduction to facial reconstruction, a practical approach to the work of a thanatoplastician, with free registration on site.

In 2024, the Saturday had hosted a conference by Hélène Romano on grief and supporting families.

Product Gallery and visitor trails

At the entrance to the trade show, the Product Gallery presents a selection of products and services chosen by exhibitors, free of charge for them. It brought together more than 100 in 2024; the organiser announces 80 for 2026. It is the visitor's first point of contact, and so a showcase not to be overlooked for a new product.

The website also describes three themed visitor trails: Made in France, Digital Services and Sustainable Development.

Community & networks

The FFPF, founded in 1970, represents independent funeral companies in mainland France and overseas. The trade show is its meeting point: a cocktail reception at its stand C99 on Wednesday 18 November from 6:30pm to 8:30pm, with musical entertainment, and the ENAMEF graduation ceremony, its training body, on Friday 20 November at 3:00pm at the same stand.

On the press side, the organiser lists Funéraire Magazine, Résonance, La Gazette des communes and Techni.Cités among its media partners.

On site: what you need to know

The trade show takes place in hall 3.2 of Eurexpo Lyon, boulevard de l'Europe in Chassieu. The organiser recommends public transport: tram T3 from Part-Dieu station to Vaulx-en-Velin La Soie, or metro line A to the terminus Laurent Bonnevay, then a connection with the Direct Eurexpo bus line. By car, access is via the A43, following Eurexpo Visiteurs. Three high-speed rail stations, Part-Dieu, Perrache and Saint-Exupéry, are about thirty minutes from the exhibition centre; Lyon Saint-Exupéry airport, served by 70 scheduled routes according to the organiser, welcomes visitors travelling from further afield.

Opening hours: 9:30am to 7:00pm on Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 November, 9:30am to 6:00pm on Friday 20 November. The visitor badge is free and is requested online on the official website.

How much does it cost to exhibit

The official website details four packages, without publishing prices: bare space, on request with a minimum area; pre-equipped stand (structure, partitions, fascia, carpet, cleaning); ready-to-exhibit stand, which adds 3 kW electricity, lighting, a one-square-metre storage room and a furniture credit of €300 to €750 depending on the area; a 4 m² ready-to-exhibit start-up module, limited to 15 stands and without co-exhibitor. Prices are provided on quotation.

Preparing your visit

For the exhibitor

• Submit a product to the Product Gallery: it is free and it is the first area visitors see at the entrance.
• Prepare trade show offers: independent customers come partly to place orders on site, and the November calendar falls at the time of year-end orders.
• Invite your customers early: the exhibitor area lets you order paper invitations and use the electronic invitation, which the organiser favours.
• Take the new weekday format into account, Wednesday to Friday, instead of the Thursday-to-Saturday of 2024: plan customer meetings accordingly.

For the decision-maker visiting

• Consult the exhibitor list beforehand and filter it by theme.
• Start with the Product Gallery to spot new products, then target the stands.
• Make the most of the year: of the two major French funeral trade shows, Funexpo is the only one held in 2026, with Funéraire Paris returning in 2027.

CSR policy & initiatives

The trade show publishes a detailed CSR commitments page. On waste: separate collection of cardboard and wood during set-up and dismantling, sorting bins for visitors, collection of glass bottles on stands and of badge lanyards at the end of the show. On facilities: ecological cleaning products, furniture and partitions reused from one edition to the next, FSC or PEFC certified wood, LED lighting on equipped stands. Invitations are overwhelmingly sent electronically and printing is done on recycled paper.

The Infopro Digital group highlights, as part of its social involvement, its commitment to the association Nos Quartiers ont du Talent.

No quantified carbon footprint or ISO 20121 certification specific to the trade show is published. The venue, however, is certified: Eurexpo Lyon is one of the GL events sites in Lyon certified ISO 20121.

How the trade show has evolved

Trajectory analysis

The 2024 edition marked a growth phase: exhibition area up 25%, 160 exhibitors including 64 new ones. The results also highlight the emergence of new digital services adapted to the needs of families, which add to the historic trades of the coffin, the monument and the vehicle.

The 2026 edition changes the format rather than the scale: 150 exhibitors announced, a move from Thursday-Saturday to Wednesday-Friday to make it a weekday trade show, geared towards business meetings. The change responds, according to the organiser, to the wish to optimise professional meetings and stimulate business exchanges.

The trade show holds its place in an industry with two major events. The alternation with Funéraire Paris gives each a full year, and gives Funexpo a clear positioning: that of independent funeral directors, backed by their federation.

All data that does not mention its source comes from the organiser's website.

Unless otherwise stated, all factual data in this listing comes from the organiser's official website (funexpo-expo.com).