Book Fair Tours: The London Book Fair

*Post in partnership with Palasso, but it does not alter the information given in this post*

In the next couple of weeks, you would see a series of posts, written by all of us, on book fairs taking place this spring in the US and also across the world. BEA is of course the most popular, but we decided the steer away from this one, and discover other venues. We sure hope you will appreciate it!

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While working on this series of book fairs, I discovered many bookish events I wasn’t aware of, and the biggest has to be the London Book Fair. This year is already the 45^th edition of this gathering, and I can’t believe I hadn’t heard of it before. It will take place at the Olympia Exhibition Centre April 12 to 15^th, 2016. Livres Canada Books describe it has ‘the spring season can’t-miss opportunity to meet publishers, rights managers, distributors, wholesalers, booksellers, and literary agents from around the world.’ The fair hosts over 25k visitors every year, and nearly 50% of them are international! That’s quite a book event! It is also taking place in the middle of the Book & Screen Week, taking place in London. A great way to unite books and screen lovers alike.

A lot of action is planned aside from the exhibit proper. Ceremonies will be hosted such as International Excellence Awards & the Trailblazers awards. There will also be a plethora of conference such as ‘Introduction to rights’ and ‘What Works? Education Conference’. I don’t know yet how big of a place book blogger will have in this fair, but I know a convention named ‘Are Book Bloggers the Future of Literary Criticism?’ took place last year, so I wouldn’t be surprise if there was a bit of room for our community amongst the big names of the industry. Furthermore, Netgalley will have their own stand at the fair, 3B50, if you ever wish to visit them!

Of course, if you are to travel half way across the world (depending where you are from, of course!) you might as well do some tourist stuff as well!



As you can see, the Olympia Exhibition center is surrounded by tons of cultural interests! The natural History Museum, Science Museum, British Museum, the Tower of London, London Eye, even the Buckingham Palace! I bet you won’t have a minute to spare on your trip!

Of course you’ll need to fill those stomachs as well, so I took a look at the restauration you’ll be able to find around the center and there is something for everyone! Italian, Indian, Lebanese, French, Japanese, countless sandwiches bars and pubs are within walking distance. I even spotted a couple of ‘American’ restaurants from those who likes their classics even on the road hehe

After a long day of cruising we’ll all need some rest and there were plenty of hotels to choose from. In fact, there are over 30 hotels which are rated 4 or 5 star within walking distance. I found many interesting hotels for a variety of budgets and right now they are about 40% booked for the fair days, so there is still time for you to choose your accommodations. I wouldn’t wait too long though, since it is such a big event!

I totally wish I could visit myself, it sounds like so much fun, and maybe I will get to one day! Being the mom of two toddlers does limit my options, but it sure is a dream I can work towards ^^

If you do plan to go, please let me know in the comments! Or, if you’ve already been in the past, I’d love to hear about it!

On a side note, here are the opening hours: Tue: 9am-6.30pm
Wed: 9am-6.30pm
Thu: 9am-5pm

Posted by Tynga at 23:55

 Book Fairs, London, UK  5 People left their mark

Tynga is a 32 years old mom of two, from Montreal, working as a lab technician in an hospital specialized in heart disease. In her free time, she enjoys reading all things Paranormal and photography.

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