London Book Fair to host Children's Media Conference in 2027
The Children's Media Conference is leaving Sheffield for London next spring to run inside the London Book Fair.
The Fair announced the 2027 partnership on 15 September, bringing people who make children's books, television, film and audio into the same building as publishers and rights sellers Publishing Perspectives. The Conference is for the people who create content for young audiences across broadcast, film, publishing and digital platforms.
The London Book Fair will run from 16 to 18 March 2027 at Excel London. The Children's Media Conference, now in its 24th year, will run on 16 and 17 March as part of that programme. The Conference normally meets in summer, so the shift to mid-March places it alongside the book trade.
The week will start a day early. The FutureBook Conference, a one-day meeting about technology and how books are made and sold, will open at the same venue on 15 March, the day before the main Fair begins. The Fair says that event will explore subjects including artificial intelligence and diversity, equity and inclusion with industry leaders. Registration for the main Fair is due to open in November.
The Fair is led by director Emma Lowe. The Conference's editorial director is Helen McAleer, working alongside founders Greg Childs and Kathy Loizou. Their event gathers writers, publishers, broadcasters, producers and digital makers.
The two events know each other already. A previous spin-off, the CMC Rights Exchange, offered participants a free pass to the Fair when it was held at Olympia in London. Rights here means permission to publish a book in another language or territory, or to adapt it for screen or sound.
The Fair describes itself as the global marketplace for the publishing industry, with more than 34,000 publishing professionals taking part, according to its website London Book Fair. Its programme runs to more than 100 sessions a year and includes strands such as the Writers' Summit and the Academic and Professional Publishing Conference. The venue address is One Western Gateway, Royal Victoria Dock, London E16 1XL. Applications to speak at the 2027 Fair closed on 9 September.
For families watching at home, this matters because many children's shows and films start as books. Those adaptations depend on early meetings between publishers and producers. Holding both gatherings in one place puts those conversations in the same corridors.
