London Wine Fair 2016 brought forward

The organisers of the London Wine Fair have confirmed dates for next year’s show, bringing it forward by two weeks to better tie in with the buying schedules of UK and international visitors.

A snap from this year’s event

The 2016 London Wine Fair will run from Tuesday, 3 May to Thursday, 5 May at London’s Olympia. This year’s event ran from 18 to 20 May.

Ross Carter, show director, said of the change: “Our exhibitors and visitors have been saying to us that an earlier date would dovetail more effectively with their buying timeframes, in particular putting together summer wine lists for both the on and off-trade.

“Shortly after the 2015 show, Olympia approached us with the option of taking an earlier tenancy and – after consultation with the trade – we felt that this would be a very positive move for the show.”

This year’s event was attended by 11,668 people, an increase of 4% on last year, with the number of visitors from the on-trade increasing by 16%. A total of 670 exhibitors packed the hall with guests able to take part in a programme of over 100 seminars and tutored tastings.

The 2015 fair’s key focus was on independent merchants and the on-trade. New features to support this included The View Tastings, an area sponsored by Octavian specifically for exhibitors showing wines with an RRSP of £30+ and with a fine wine remit, and Wine Grapes, a now annual celebration of two varieties, which for this inaugural year were Syrah and Grüner Veltliner.

It is hoped next year’s new dates – the earliest in the show’s history – will better tie-in with buying schedules for UK and international visitors.

Check out our roundup of the 2015 show in pictures here.