The London Book Fair (LBF) has announced that The Children’s Media Conference (CMC) will be relocating from Sheffield to London next year, and will take place on 16 and 17 March, during LBF (16-18 March 2027).
Responding to a rapidly changing market and expanding its international reach, CMC’s new position in the industry calendar and London location will create fresh opportunities for collaboration, networking and business development across complementary sectors.
CMC 2027 will continue to have an agenda packed full of keynotes and sessions which help delegates to enhance their business understanding at a time of significant change in the industry, and it will also offer expanded market and networking opportunities.
The children and youth content conference will join a rich line-up of conferences and seminars both before and during LBF. ‘Day Zero,’ Monday 15 March, will see the return of FutureBook, The Writers’ Summit, HP ConTEXT, and training sessions organized by the IPG.
From Tuesday 16 March, Day One of LBF, visitors can expect ever more content on more stages, including the new Audio Hub and the Market Focus stage, dedicated to Japan, as well as the return of the popular Main Stage, Tech Stage, The Salon and Author HQ.
Helen McAleer, CMC editorial director, says, “We could not be happier to partner with The London Book Fair on next year’s CMC. The city and time of year may be different, but the spirit and heart of CMC remains the same. We’re planning a conference packed with insightful, timely sessions, while expanding our network through new international partnerships and closer collaboration with delegates from complementary sectors. We can’t wait to bring the CMC community together in London.”
Greg Childs and Kathy Loizou, founders of CMC add, “CMC has endured 23 years of industry upheavals and change but thanks to the support of so many people in the kids’ creative sector it’s always been able to react and respond appropriately. We’ll be taking that sense of collaboration and collective action to our new London location. We hope a touch of the Sheffield spirit which made this conference unique will follow us to the East End, to provide many more years of service to the kids’ media industry and new partners in publishing and licensing. CMC’s connections with Sheffield continue as we explore opportunities for new focused events in our home city and others in the UK.”
Emma Lowe, director of The London Book Fair, said, “I couldn’t be happier that The Children’s Media Conference have decided to begin their next chapter with us at our new home at Excel in March 2027. Working with Greg, Helen and Kathy has been a rare pleasure. They are founts of well-respected knowledge amongst their peers, and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens when we put the soul of CMC together with the stories from LBF.”
The London Book Fair (LBF) is the world’s largest spring book trade and publishing event and will take place at Excel London from 16 – 18 March 2027. Registration will open in November, and more information is available here.
