the damascus international fair is an annual commercial exhibition event, taking place in damascus, syria. described as "the syrian economy's window to the world, the fair was first held in 1954 and is the oldest such fair in the middle east. it was annually held in the umayyad square, but was cancelled in 2012 due to the syrian civil war before resuming again in 2017 and this time in a newly established state-of-the-arts fairground.