The ICCE is now under the direction of BLADE Show Management

BLADE Show management is proud to announce that it is the new owner of the International Custom Cutlery Exhibition. And, in its first official proclamation in its new role, BLADE Show management indicated the 2021 International Custom Cutlery Exhibition—ICCE for short—will be held March 26-27, once again at the historic Fort Worth Stockyards in Fort Worth, Texas.

Tickets were slated to go on sale in November.

The successor to the old Knifemakers’ Guild Show, the ICCE was first held in Kansas City in September 2015 before moving to the new site in Fort Worth in March 2019. The initial change to ICCE encompassed members of both the Guild and the American Bladesmith Society (ABS) exclusively as exhibitors all under one roof in one show—the first time such an event had ever been tried. The ICCE met with decent initial success, including a good first show in Fort Worth, but show coordinator Jerry Moen and officials of both the Guild and the ABS wanted more. Meanwhile, BLADE Show management showed interest in running the event. It was time for a change in show leadership—and what better hands to place the reins of that leadership in than that of the BLADE Show team?

“The only way the ICCE can do what it needs to do is with the help of BLADE Show management,” Moen observed, adding that the promotional tool that is BLADE® Magazine is an  invaluable tool to add to the mix, too. Chimed in ABS Chairman Steve Dunn, “I think the change will be a good thing. I think BLADE Show management will be able to reach more people and generate a lot of new interest in the show.”

According to BLADE Show officials, their goal for the first year or so of the new arrangement is to keep the ICCE close to what it has been before slowly transitioning in the ensuing years to more of a BLADE Show type of event. “We just don’t want to come in right out of the gate and change everything,” noted BLADE Show/ICCE director Alicia Newton. As a result, don’t expect many changes at the 2021 ICCE. What you can expect, though, is an exciting venue with loads of potential.

Moen, who also is a voting member in the Guild and served on the Guild board of directors for six years, said BLADE Show officials fell in love with the Fort Worth venue at first sight. Added Guild board member Gene Baskett, “It’s a great venue. There are many great places to eat.” There’s also many attractions for the whole family, music venues and much more.

While the ABS will not present awards or do any testing for ABS master or journeyman smith stamps at ICCE—the ABS does most of that at the BLADE Show—the Guild will. It will continue to present honors for knives in the following show categories: Best Art; Best Bowie; Best Fighter; Best Dressed Fighter; Best Folder; Best Multi-Blade Folder; Best Collaboration; Best Hunter; Judges’ Choice; and Best Tactical Folder. The Guild also will present the annual Red Watson Award, Nate Posner Award and Hank Rummel Award, the latter for best first-year probationary Guild member, and determine both its voting and probationary members at the show. The ICCE, meanwhile, will presents awards for knives in the following show categories: Best Forged Blade; Best Bowie; Best Art; Best of Show; Best Combat Knife; Best Folder; Best Hunter; Best Damascus; and Best Collaboration.

Moen said he will stay on as a show consultant. “I’m 71. I can’t do it justice [as coordinator] anymore. I don’t have the energy level to. But I’m going to stay because I know the show politics around here,” including having Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price give the official show welcome as a special guest at the 2019 ICCE. “I will stick with it as long as I can, anything to make it work.

“I always thought a show in Texas would work. There’re cattle, oil—the money’s here.”

Now BLADE Show management is, too.