Licensing Expo & Brand Licensing Europe Confirm 2021 Dates

The Global Licensing Group has unveiled the 2021 dates for Licensing Expo and Brand Licensing Europe, both of which will have a multiplatform format.

Licensing Expo will take place live and in-person at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas from August 10 to 12. An online event will be held two weeks later on August 24 and 25. Brand Licensing Europe, meanwhile, will take place live and in-person at ExCeL London from November 17 to 19, with an online event following two weeks later from November 30 to December 1.

The Las Vegas and London events will be organized in accordance with Informa’s AllSecure health and safety standards that are designed to ensure that all participants can attend events safely and with confidence. The standards include learnings and best-practices from across the leading trade event companies around the world, in accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations, to create physical environments that meet industry standards for gathering.

Supported by an online platform, exhibitors and visitors will have access before, during and after the events to schedule and host meetings, access on-demand content and thought leadership and search and discover a wide range of properties available for license.

Anna Knight, VP of the Global Licensing Group, said: “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. 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. Multiplatform events are definitely the future, and the combination of live and online offers no limits to global participation.”

Maura Regan, president of Global Licensing Group event sponsor Licensing International, added: “I know I’m not alone in eagerly anticipating the moment when we can all gather again in person, and this revised timeframe and hybrid solution for our industry’s two flagship gatherings will offer the best chance for that to happen soon and safely. While we certainly learned this year that nothing can replace actual face-to-face interaction, the unique value of virtual events is their global accessibility. This plan for the 2021 iterations of Licensing Expo and BLE will allow us to have the best of both worlds.”