Licensing Expo, Brand Licensing Europe Shift 2021 Dates, Reveal New Format

The trade show landscape for 2021 continues to be reshaped.

Informa Markets’ Global Licensing Group revealed new dates and an all-new event format for its flagship shows Licensing Expo and Brand Licensing Europe.

Traditionally held in June, Licensing Expo will now take place as an in-person show at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Aug. 10-12, 2021. A new digital companion event will take place online Aug. 24-25.

Brand Licensing Europe will take place in-person at ExCeL London from Nov. 17-19, 2021. A digital companion event will take place online from Nov. 30-Dec. 1.

“We truly understand the importance of relationships and in-person connections to the licensing industry and have therefore made the decision to move both events to a time later in the calendar year,” says Anna Knight, vice president, Global Licensing Group. “In addition, we have also seen a fantastic response to Licensing Week Virtual, which we ran in June, and October’s month-long celebration Festival of Licensing. Following consultation with many of our customers, we have decided to carry forward the successful elements of these virtual events and learnings from them to run alongside our in-person events in 2021 and beyond. Multi-platform events are definitely the future, and the combination of live and online offers no limits to global participation.”

Global Licensing Group’s new multiplatform approach is intended to allow a “best of both worlds” scenario for licensing professionals. The in-person events will be organized in accordance with Informa’s AllSecure health and safety standards.

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book and Co-President of The International Toy Magazines Association (ITMA). He is also a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC), New York Comic Con, Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.