Fixed-target experiments have a long history at CERN, forming essential building blocks in the physics landscape, in parallel to collider facilities. Notable among them are those fed by the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS), which has provided a steady stream of high-energy proton beams to the North Area at the Prévessin site, feeding a wide variety of experiments, over 40 years. The first physics publication from an experiment in the North Area – a measurement of the production rate of muon pairs by quark–antiquark annihilation – was published in 1979 by the NA3 experiment. As the North Area marks 40 years since its first physics result, this symposium celebrates this hub of experiments large and small, lively and productive, able to quickly evolve and adapt to address the compelling questions of the day and of the future.