Children's Media Conference relocates to London

The Children’s Media Conference is relocating from its traditional Sheffield home in 2027 and will now take place during The London Book Fair on 16 and 17 March, during LBF.

CMC says it is “responding to a rapidly changing market and expanding its international reach”, and that its new position in the industry calendar and London location “will create fresh opportunities for collaboration, networking and business development across complementary sectors.”

CMC 2027 agenda will still be “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 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 organised by the IPG.

From Tuesday 16 March, Day One of LBF, there will be “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 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.”