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The London Book Fair 2015 is to take place in Olympia in West London, allaying fears of a move to East London's ExCeL conference venue.
The fair said that it was committed to making Olympia its new home, with its current venue in Earls Court earmarked for redevelopment. Dates for 2015 have not been announced but LBF said it would take place in April.
London Book Fair has also launched a new programme of events beginning 2014 under the banner, London Book and Screen Week, as it seeks to reflect an industry that is now multi-format and multi-channel. These events will take place at venues across London, and will run all week, beginning with Digital Minds on the Monday and culminating in a writers' fair on Friday.
London Book Fair has been consulting with its advisory boards after it became clear that Earls Court would likely not be available after 2014. But after a disastrous event at ExCeL in 2006 there was concern that a return to East London would result in a much smaller fair, with agents in particular stating that they would rather hold separate meetings in Central London. Olympia was considered too small when LBF originally moved to ExCeL, but has since been developed and now claims 42,910m2 of space across seven venues with the addition of Olympia West. ExCeL offers more than 100,000m2 of "flexible space". Publishers had previously told The Bookseller that though they could be persuaded to move to ExCeL, they would be worried if it resulted in a marginalised event where foreign, particularly US, publishers and agents did not attend.
Jacks Thomas, director, The London Book Fair, said: "We have listened long and hard to those who participate in The London Book Fair and, while it is sad that Earls Court is unlikely to form part of the London exhibition venue mix, we fully appreciate the great affection the industry has for West London and believe that moving to Olympia is currently the right move for the publishing industry." She stressed that LBF was committed to Olympia after 2015.
David Roche, non-executive chair, The London Book Fair Advisory Board added: "The London Book Fair has taken a great deal of time and trouble to present the two prospective venue options currently available in London. They have listened to their stakeholders and taken the decision favoured by a majority voice that West London must be the home for the foreseeable future."
The London Book and Screen Week takes place in 2014, with the book fair described as "the pivotal three day event within a five day programme". LBF's digital conference Digital Minds kicks off this strand on Monday 7th April, with the closing event a direct-to-consumer creative writing day, The London Writers’ Fair, to take place on Friday 11th April with other events to be confirmed over the coming weeks. The London Book Fair 2014 takes place at Earls Court from Tuesday 8th April to Thursday 10th April inclusive.
According to LBF, the week will focus on the business of publishing and storytelling from concept to consumer, shining a spotlight on authors, industry leaders, screen writers, agents, publishers, retailers, etailers, developers, technology gurus and start-ups. The week is designed to bring into focus the importance that written content has across an increasingly multi-channel route to the consumer.
Thomas said: "Ensuring that all our 25,000 visitors and exhibitors, representing 114 countries, are presented with a broad range of options to further their businesses remains at the heart of what The London Book Fair does. Creating an exhibition and content offering, via the Book Fair itself and also London Book and Screen Week, that showcase the core of publishing while also highlighting the opportunities around aligned multi-media businesses is an exciting reflection of today’s book industry."
The London Book Fair 2014 has also launched new feature pavilions in the Brand Licensing, Gaming and Comics sectors, and an enhanced TV and film content offering.