HEPC handloom and home-textile fairs

A buyer planning a trip to Karur, one of India's home-textile towns, wrote this in January 2026 - "I tried enquiring online and through email's but unfortunately only few of the many manufacturers/Factories have responded" (r/Karur, 2026 (opens in a new tab)). The locals' advice was to tell owners ahead of time and walk in. That's the problem council fairs solve. The weavers and exporters who don't answer cold email do turn up to meet buyers.

HEPC, the Handloom Export Promotion Council, runs buyer-facing events for handloom fabric and home textiles: bed and table linen, towels, rugs, cushions and throws. This page covers what we know about its fairs and how to use them. The honest caveat - the council hasn't announced its 2026-27 events yet, so there's no date to plan around today.

Next edition

• Dates: Not yet announced. The council's events page says "Events for 2026-2027 will be announced shortly" (read 28 September 2026).
• Venue: Unknown
• City: Unknown
• Buyer registration: not open, because no event is announced. Watch the council's events page (opens in a new tab).

Who exhibits

HEPC organises the events, and exhibitors are its members: registered handloom exporters with an export track record. Membership does not prove an exhibitor weaves the goods it shows. Many members are merchant exporters working with weaver groups, cooperatives and small units, which is how the handloom trade is built. A lot of the weaving happens in homes and small sheds, and the exporter is the one that organises yarn, dyeing, finishing and packing.

That's fine, as long as you know who answers for what. Ask which unit weaves and finishes your order, who dyes the yarn, and who checks the goods before they ship. Ask a former Karur merchandiser's question too - who quotes low and then cuts quality to make it back (r/Karur, 2026 (opens in a new tab))? Nobody will name names at a stand, but the way they answer tells you a lot.

Hosted-buyer terms

Not published, as at September 2026. Handloom is a priority sector for government-funded reverse buyer-seller meets, so a hosted route may exist through the Indian mission in your country. Ask its commercial wing to nominate you when the council opens its next event.

Visa

The e-Business Visa is the usual route. Apply at least two weeks ahead and ask the organiser for an invitation letter.

Getting there

The venue hasn't been announced, so there's no travel note yet. HEPC has also promoted larger textile shows to overseas buyers, such as Bharat Tex, which is worth checking if you want handloom and mill-made home textiles in one trip.

What to expect

Smaller, quieter events than IHGF, with more time per stand. That suits handloom, because the conversation is about hand feel, yarn and finish, and those take time.

Handloom goods vary from lot to lot by nature. So agree the tolerance for weave, colour and size in writing before you order, and keep a signed-off sample on both sides. For towels, ask about the pile yarn and how the finishing is done, because one US shopper found heavy lint on Indian terry towels even after three washes (forum post, 2023). If your destination gives a free-trade rate on home textiles then ask the exhibitor which proof of origin it can issue, and read our trade pages for your market.

Remember that Karur buyer and the silent inboxes. A fair turns a cold email into a handshake and a named contact, and that's often all it takes to get answers afterwards. If you would rather have weaving units found and visited for you, SourcingSync (opens in a new tab) does it.

Past editions

• The council lists its past events by year (2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26) with a report of concluded events, but the page names no fair, date or place in text we could read (September 2026). Earlier edition details are Unknown.

Sources

• HEPC upcoming events page (opens in a new tab), read 28 September 2026, still saying the 2026 to 2027 events will be announced shortly
• Buyer and ex-merchandiser on Karur factories, r/Karur, 2026 (opens in a new tab) (from our forum research, spot-check before publish)
• Lint on Indian terry towels, r/CleaningTips, 2023 (opens in a new tab) (from our forum research, spot-check before publish)

Where SourcingSync helps

Want exhibitors pre-screened against their public records and weaving-unit visits run for you? SourcingSync (opens in a new tab) does it.

All India fairs: /india/fairs/ · All fairs: /fairs/