Brand Licensing Europe is officially cancelling its in-person event for 2020 and transitioning to an all-virtual model. The digital trade show, organized by Global Licensing Group, will run through the month of October.

Festival of Licensing will be made up of four events focused on key territories. The first offering (October 6 to 8) will highlight business in Europe, powered by Brand Licensing Europe. From October 14 to 15, Licensing Expo China and Licensing Expo Japan will collaborate on an event spotlighting Asia. North America and Latin America will be the focus of the third event from October 20 to 22. And finally, the Licensing Leadership Summit will serve the global C-suite from October 28 to 29.

The first three events will feature brand and property showcases, keynote speakers, educational content, Q&A sessions and networking opportunities. The final Licensing Leadership Summit event will draw on key learnings from those first three programs and focus on the future of the global licensing industry as a whole.

There will be no fee to attend the first three events, though there will be a delegate registration rate for the Licensing Leadership Summit. All of the Festival of Licensing content will be made available on-demand and remain online for one month.

In June, Global Licensing Group held Licensing Week Virtual after its in-person Licensing Expo trade show in Vegas was postponed to May 2021. The online market hosted more than 4,300 attendees, and Global Licensing Group’s goal for Festival of Licensing is to attract 15,000 attendees in total for the month.

Global Licensing Group VP Anna Knight previously told Kidscreen that the team would focus on taking advantage of emerging technologies for upcoming digital events and is working to “be bolder” with the virtual format in the future.

Brand Licensing Europe is the most recent industry event to go fully digital in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, joining the likes of MIPTV and Annecy. The only pan-European event dedicated to licensing and brand extension, BLE typically attracts upwards of 8,000 people working in licensing, retail and manufacturing. More than 2,500 brands and properties from 90-plus countries exhibit at BLE each year.

Kidscreen‘s full list of postponed and cancelled kids industry events is available online.