Rendez-vous Forêt-Bois · 2027

Agoris analysis · updated November 2026

Key takeaways

• The Rendez-vous Forêt-Bois is the trade show of the forest and wood sector in the Hauts-de-France: two days of stands, forest demonstrations, conferences and competitions, from upstream forestry through to timber construction and wood energy.
• Next edition: the 6th, on Thursday 20 and Friday 21 May 2027, at the Domaine de Belloy, in Belloy-Saint-Léonard in the Somme. Open 9.30am to 6pm on Thursday and 9.30am to 5pm on Friday. Free admission.
• Change of site: the 2023 and 2025 editions were held at the parc d'Olhain, in the Pas-de-Calais. The show moves to the Somme, 40 minutes from Amiens.
• Organiser: the association Fibois Hauts-de-France, the regional inter-trade body for the sector. Co-organiser: CNPF Hauts-de-France Normandie, the regional branch of the Centre National de la Propriété Forestière (the national centre for private forest ownership).
• Frequency: every two years, since 2017, in odd-numbered years.
• Results of the last edition, in May 2025: 74 exhibiting companies, 1,300 visitors over two days excluding school groups, 550 secondary school and sixth-form students, 11 training institutions, 5 conferences and 3 competitions.

Who exhibits

Typical profile

The offer covers the whole chain of the sector. On the forestry side: forest managers, cooperatives, tree nurseries, forestry contractors, tree surgeons and private and public forestry bodies. On the processing side: sawyers, joiners, carpenters and timber builders. They are joined by wood energy players, from processors of logs, wood chips and pellets to sellers of boilers and stoves, manufacturers of forestry equipment and software, and a training area.

The format serves a dual objective, which the organiser openly states: networking and business between upstream and downstream professionals, and promoting the trades to young people. For an exhibitor, the visitor is therefore sometimes a potential customer and sometimes a future employee or apprentice.

Exhibitors of note

The only named list published is that of the 2025 edition: the 2025 exhibitor list is still online on the Visit page, and no 2027 list has yet appeared.

In 2025, it included COFNOR (Coopérative Forestière du Nord), ONF, Fransylva Hauts-de-France, PEFC Hauts-de-France and Néosylva for forest management; the sawmills Danel, Forêt Vivante and Jerome; Hargassner, Granuloé, Chofféo and Boinor for wood energy; Charpentiers des Flandres, Nollet Charpente, Circular Wood and Toerana Habitat for timber construction; Vermeer, Roussel Agri and the MAPP stand, Stihl and Saelen for equipment; and CD2E, Crédit Coopératif and France Travail for services.

The training area brought together French institutions, such as the lycée professionnel UFA de Bavay, the BTP CFA d'Hesdigneul-lès-Boulogne and the Compagnons du devoir of Villeneuve-d'Ascq, as well as Belgian and Quebec ones, including the Institut Technique Horticole de Gembloux, the Société Royale Forestière Belge and Formabois.

Visitor quality

The show describes itself as a professional trade show, but it has been open to the general public since 2023, free of charge. The 2025 results distinguish three audiences: 1,300 visitors excluding school groups, 550 secondary school and sixth-form students, and about forty jobseekers who came through the scheme co-organised with France Travail. Private forest owners, numerous in a region where forest is mostly privately owned, form a specific audience, which the co-organisation with the CNPF targets directly.

No OJS certification or third-party audit of attendance is published: the figures are those of the organiser's results press releases. At national level, the sector has trade shows of a different scale, such as Euroforest for forestry equipment or the Carrefour International du Bois for timber trading and processing. The Rendez-vous Forêt-Bois plays a different card: regional proximity.

Programme and community

Conference programme

The 2027 programme has not been published: the Visit page describes it as "under construction" and still displays the 2025 one. That year, five conferences were held. On the Friday: the Pacte Bois-Biosourcés (the regional wood and bio-based materials pact) and its mid-term review, a cross-view from the architects Nicolas Ziesel and Samuel Delmas on the architectural potential of wood, then the presentation of the Prix Régional de la Construction Bois (the regional timber construction prize). On the Saturday: mixed-species continuous-cover forestry and preventing soil compaction during forestry operations.

Demonstrations and competitions

This is the hallmark of the show: part of it takes place in the forest. The announcement of the 2027 edition mentions exhibitions, demonstrations and conferences, carpenters' competitions, a timbersports championship and horse logging, as well as themed workshops, a forest and wood village, a training area and a "job dating" space. The detail of these activities has not yet been published.

In 2025, three competitions took place: timbersports, organised by the Centre de Formation Agro-paysager & Forestier de Bavay with Belgian and French forestry schools; horse logging, with the Pôle Trait du Nord and the Syndicat Hippique Boulonnais; and, new that year, a joinery and carpentry competition for students on CAP, bac pro and BP courses. Activities ranged from the forestry simulator to the mobile sawmill, including two Tiny Houses and demonstrations of wood chippers.

Community and networks

The organising committee brings together the ONF, the regional union Fransylva Hauts-de-France, PEFC Hauts-de-France and the lycée professionnel de Bavay. In 2025, the show received financial support from the Région Hauts-de-France, the Département du Pas-de-Calais, the Communauté d'Agglomération Béthune-Bruay, Artois Lys Romane, PEFC Hauts-de-France and Plantons pour l'avenir.

On the press side, the dedicated area of the website provides the 2025 results press release, a photo library and figures on the regional sector from the Observabois observatory.

On site: what you need to know

The show is held at the Domaine de Belloy, 3 rue Maréchal Leclerc de Hauteclocque, in Belloy-Saint-Léonard (80270). The Amiens address on rue du Vivier, which appears in the footer of the website, is that of Fibois Hauts-de-France, not of the show.

The official website gives driving times: 40 minutes from Amiens, one hour from Beauvais, 1 hour 20 from Saint-Quentin, 1 hour 30 from Compiègne and Arras, and two hours from Lille. No public transport service is indicated.

Opening hours: Thursday 20 May 2027 from 9.30am to 6pm, Friday 21 May from 9.30am to 5pm. Free admission, catering on site.

For schools, specific provision is planned over both days. Registration will open in January 2027, through a communication from the DRAFPIC and the RIPREE of the Lille and Amiens education authorities. The visit is free; transport remains the responsibility of the school.

How much does it cost to exhibit?

Preparing your visit

For exhibitors

• Watch the Exhibit page: the 2027 registration pack is not there yet. In 2025, it had to be returned before 15 March, with a 40% deposit.
• Decide early whether to bring a machine: in 2025, the pack distinguished small equipment displayed or demonstrated on the stand, large equipment on the display area at the entrance, and demonstration in the forest.
• Plan the set-up before opening: in 2025, machines had to be installed in the two days before the show, with no vehicles allowed on site during the event.
• Think about recruitment: the "job dating" space and the training area make the show a place to meet apprentices, students and jobseekers.

For decision-maker visitors

• Plan to come on a weekday: the 2027 edition is held on a Thursday and a Friday, whereas 2023 and 2025 fell on a Friday and a Saturday. On Thursday the show closes at 6pm; on Friday, at 5pm.
• Look out for the forest demonstrations, which allow you to compare machines and working methods in real conditions.
• Consult the 2025 exhibitor list to get an idea of the line-up, while waiting for the 2027 one.

CSR policy and initiatives

Sustainable forest management is the very subject of the show: its co-organiser, the CNPF, has the mission of guiding the management of private forests through the sustainable management documents it approves, and PEFC Hauts-de-France, a forest certification body, sits on the organising committee. The 2025 conferences on mixed-species continuous-cover forestry and soil compaction went in this direction.

This content should nonetheless be distinguished from a commitment specific to the event. Neither the show's website nor that of Fibois Hauts-de-France publishes a formal CSR policy for the event, a carbon footprint or an ISO 20121 certification, and the show's website says nothing about the environmental approach of the Domaine de Belloy. The local roots, however, can be verified: an organising committee made up of regional players in the sector, a training area and an employment scheme with France Travail.

How the show has evolved

Trajectory analysis

The show was born in 2017 and is held every two years. The last two editions, at the parc d'Olhain, show a stable number of exhibitors, from nearly 70 in 2023 to 74 in 2025, but a sharp fall in attendance excluding school groups, from 2,500 to 1,300 visitors. The organiser does not comment on this gap in its results, and its press releases do not state how visitors are counted: it should therefore be read with caution.

The 2027 edition marks two shifts. First geographical: after two editions in the Pas-de-Calais, the show moves to the Somme, closer to Amiens, home to both co-organisers. Then calendar-related: it moves from a Friday and Saturday to a Thursday and Friday, two working days, which could affect the make-up of the audience; only the 2027 results will show.

For a company in the sector in northern France, the appeal lies in the ratio of cost to access: a stand priced at €500 in 2025, meals included, to meet forest owners, contractors, sawyers, builders and the region's future employees over two days.

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

Unless otherwise stated, all factual data in this listing comes from the organiser's official website (rdv-foret-bois.fr).