J-1

09:48 Apr 19, 2013 

If you wish to put your suggestion in the proposed answer I could give you the points.
Thanks a lot again!

09:47 Apr 19, 2013 

for your precious suggestions and advices.
I wish I could give point to all of you but in the end I decided to select the option proposed by Tortola : "One day to go".

15:34 Apr 18, 2013 

might be something else to consider, e.g.:
Day Zero Events
http://www.osisoft.com/UsersConference2011/DayZero/
SUNDAY 24th - DAY ZERO, PRE-SHOW EVENTS
http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/general/1298188/mwc-2013-in-d...
Day Zero at the SMART Show -- our annual pre-show education day, and our biggest pre-show slate yet with 43 sessions, including our brand new "SMART Friends" program.
http://www.smartjewelryshow.com/component/k2/item/169-day-ze...
(See also:
Okay… I’m a bit confused… there is no “Day Zero” (unless that’s the early morning hours leading up to “zero hour” when the show opens). So, I’m counting Tuesday as “Day Minus Two” with GallaCon, and today as “Day Minus One” with the ICV2 Conference.
http://comicsbeat.com/nycc-12-day-1-pre-show-photos/

12:03 Apr 18, 2013 

I was just going to ask if it's absolutely necessary to tag on "before the show". "One day to go!" or "Just one day to go!" (I think the exclamation mark would be needed) are much better alone. It works well to put the name of the show in front.

11:19 Apr 18, 2013 

" 'name of the show' : one day to go" ?
(For exemple "Renewable energies fair: one day to go".)

11:12 Apr 18, 2013 

I think that your original suggestion could be the right one. "One day to the show" gives a countdown feel and sounds fine in English as well as catchy. "One day before the show" sounds clunky and probably shouldn't be chosen in favour of "the day before the show" (even if I say it myself). Then again, I quite like Tony's suggestion of "the eve of the show". You are however well within your rights to use your original suggestion. The BBC does..

11:04 Apr 18, 2013 

I don't think there really is any exact term in EN that conveys the same notion in quite the same way; and I don't really believe that there is so much of a difference in meaning between 'the day before' and 'one day before' — except that the latter is sometimes used by non-native EN speakers in a way that can sound odd, especially if it occurs where we might more naturally expect 'a day'.
'THE day before' sort of emphasizes the importance of the day in itself, whereas 'one / a day before' kind of places the emphasis slightly more on the idea of a period of 24 hours.

If you want to keep the idea of the countdown, you might try something like "Show day minus one"

11:03 Apr 18, 2013 

One day to go before the show
or
One day before the show - as you suggested

11:00 Apr 18, 2013 

sounds more correct to you as a standalone sentence?
I would really like to find an expression that catches attention.

10:58 Apr 18, 2013 

Actually it is a standalone sentence aiming at promoting an event organised the day before the show.

"The day before the show" sounds to me more like "le jour avant l'évènement". By that I mean that it seems to me that we loose the idea of the countdown before the main event but maybe there is no expression in english that could give this idea?

10:53 Apr 18, 2013 

but unfortunately I didn't find it.

10:48 Apr 18, 2013 

Did you try searching in the glossaries? This term has come up at least once before, and the earlier discussions ought to be helpful.