The UK is in one hell of a holding pattern at the moment as the country awaits the financial outcome of Brexit and its effects on leaving of the EU on the 31st October. Many organisations, especially those dealing with international ties, are looking to see how the process will impact their business – and it appears some aren’t waiting around for the fallout.
Showmasters Events, the organisers of the massively popular Film & Comic Con media and pop culture conventions, have announced this evening that they are pulling the London Comic Con Winter edition of their show, which was due to take place at the Olympia in the capital over the weekend of 23rd and 24th November, from their calendar.
In his Facebook post, Showmasters Head Honcho Jason Joiner specifically cites Brexit as the primary reason for the removal of the show from their slate, saying, “…Running our larger events we are very dependent on the Pound to the Dollar exchange rate and recently the Pound dived to its lowest rate in decades which means that most US guests costs have risen dramatically and this looks likely to stay this way until we all find out where we stand with Brexit in the coming months.”
Joiner continues, “…we do feel with all this uncertainty in the world and with the exchange rate fluctuation these issues are unlikely to stabilize before the Brexit outcome in October, and most likely until the end of the year. We feel this is the right choice for the event and you the people that support us and trust us to make the right decisions to run and deliver outstanding events with amazing guest line ups like we have been doing for many years.”
The Summer Edition of LFCC in July was a massive success for Showmasters, being the 15th Anniversary of the event, attracting hundreds of thousands of attendees and seeing a continued streamlining of attending talent in its Comic Zone organised by Tony Lee, including high profile international guests such as Rob Liefeld, Arthur Suydam and Renee Witterstaetter.
It’s a shame that a high profile event which was making all the effort to improve the standing of its comics component (even to the point of removing the ‘Film &’ element from its title for the Winter show) has now bitten the dust… although it does speak volumes that Brexit doesn’t appear to have worried MCM Comic Con enough to shake their shindig from the calendar, taking over the ExCel one month later than the Showmasters show would have been, especially as the Winter Edition of that event has in recent years has seriously gone hard with its international comics guests.
No names have been revealed for MCM Comic Con Winter as yet but, safe to say, this Showmasters cancellation will now make the decision a lot easier for special guests, comic exhibitors and attendees towards their plans as the days gets nippier and the nights grow longer.
