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 told him to warn owners ahead of time and then just walk in. Council fairs fix exactly that problem, because the weavers and exporters who ignore cold email do turn up to meet buyers.

HEPC, the Handloom Export Promotion Council, runs buyer events for handloom fabric and home textiles like bed and table linen, towels, rugs, cushions and throws. Here's what we know about its fairs and how to use them.

The honest caveat - the council hasn't announced its 2026-27 events, 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 its members exhibit, so every stand is a registered handloom exporter with a track record. Membership does not prove a stand weaves what it shows, though. Many members are merchant exporters working with weaver groups, cooperatives and small units, and that's how the handloom trade is built - the weaving happens in homes and small sheds while the exporter organises yarn, dyeing, finishing and packing.

That's perfectly 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

None were published as at September 2026. Handloom is a priority sector for government-funded reverse buyer-seller meets, though, so a hosted route may run through the Indian mission in your country. Ask its commercial wing to nominate you when the council opens its next event.

Visa

Same as most Indian fairs - the e-Business Visa, at least two weeks ahead, with an invitation letter from the council.

Getting There

No venue yet, so no travel note yet. HEPC has also promoted bigger textile shows to overseas buyers, such as Bharat Tex, which is worth a look if you want handloom and mill-made home textiles in one trip.

What to Expect

These are smaller and quieter than IHGF, with more time per stand. We think that suits handloom well, because the talk is about hand feel, yarn and finish, and none of that can be rushed.

Handloom goods vary from lot to lot by their very 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 replies afterwards. If you'd rather have weaving units found and visited for you then 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

SourcingSync (opens in a new tab) can pre-screen exhibitors against their public records and run the weaving-unit visits on your behalf.

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