Event News
SFN EXPO DOUBLES
IN SIZE
Event Name: Sports, Fitness & Nutrition
Expo 2019
Date: 21-22 September 2019
The Sports, Fitness & Nutrition Expo
(SFN) doubled in size according to show
manager Jenna Gardner, after moving
into the largest hall at the Scottish
Exhibition Centre. She said: “SFN, like
the fitness industry is ever evolving. This
year we took over the largest hall within
the SEC, doubling the show in size from
the previous year”.
Visitors experienced live classes,
attended educational talks, saw the latest
products and brands, and got the chance
to meet their health and fitness idols.
SFN played host to two competitions;
The Glasgow Classic (a CrossFit based
FASHION FOCUS AT
BLE
Event Name: Brand Licencing Europe
Date: 1-3 October 2019
BLE continued to climb the ladder
of success, achieving record visitor
numbers of 8,062 (3% up YOY) and
companies exhibiting onsite also
increased from 264 to 268 (1.5% up YOY)
Anna Knight, Informa Markets VP of
Licencing said: “Over the last four years,
since I have been involved in BLE, visitor
and exhibitor numbers have grown.
This is because of the huge investment
we have put in to make BLE relevant
and business-critical for all of our
audiences”.
The show has always aimed to be a
place where brand owners, retailers
and manufacturers can meet and
do business, whilst refreshing their
industry knowledge and being
introduced to future trends. It also
endeavours to help vistors to visualise,
conceptualise and be inspired by
successful licensed products.
BLE 2019 focused on several licensing
categories, which paved the way for a
number of features. This year’s themes
were animation, gaming and eSports,
Heritage x Interiors and publishing.
The gaming activation, The Arcade,
competition) and the final of Scotland’s
Strongest Man.
The Glasgow Classic was double
the size of those previous and was
opened up to run individual and team
competitions as well as the pairs
competition that had been run in
previously.
The Strongman Arena provided a
seating area for spectators to watch the
final of Scotland’s Strongest Man. These
changes attracted Scotland’s top athletes
to participate in the live competitions,
which resulted in five world records
being set.
SFN also saw the introduction of a new
section covering mental health and a
Wellbeing Area.
What’s next?
QED Events has invested in visitor
and exhibitor research to help the expo
continue to learn and grow, as well as
identifying which new sport profiles to
add to their agenda each year.
was in partnership with PowerStation
Studios, and featured many brands
including Activision, Bioworld and Sybo
Games, and hosted a keynote panel
focused on eSports.
The Beyond the Book featured author
meet and greets, as well as showing
over 15 successful product ranges
from brands like Beano, Moomin and
Paddington.
In addition, the HeritageXInteriors
collaboration highlighted high-end
licensing products from the Natural
History Museum, Style Library, V&A
and Van Gogh Museum.
What’s next?
BLE 2020 plans to showcase a single
theme: fashion licensing. The event
hopes to explore fast fashion, haute
couture collaborations, sustainability,
the economy and more, whilst featuring
a live catwalk.
November — 11