The International Kids Licensing Days are back for the fourth consecutive year, from 8 to 10 April, with an extensive programme of B2B conferences on the latest trends in children’s content. The days are organised by Bologna Children’s Book Fair and Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids, in cooperation with Licensing Magazine.
After the great success of the last few years, the International Kids Licensing Days (IKLD) return from 8 to 10 April for an exciting 4th edition. The B2B conferences in English will delve into the latest trends in children’s content, from licensing to publishing, from audiovisual to gaming, thanks to the contribution of over 40 international key players. The event is organised by Bologna Children’s Book Fair and Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids, in collaboration with Licensing Magazine.
The three days will be held exclusively in presence at the Licensing Conference Room (Hall 29 Mall 2 of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair), in the context of the 17th Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids, the international licensing event of reference and dedicated to children’s, teenagers’, and young adult brands.
The IKLD will open on 8 April with a talk by publishing giant Kodansha on the world of manga, increasingly central to the licensing market, to continue with accurate analysis of licensing and publishing trends, and then explore in the afternoon case studies and trends between gaming, publishing and licensing, a new theme for the Bologna event and highly topical for the industry, which will be discussed with some of the sector’s international protagonists. The speakers on this day will be Yulia Amano (Japan), Ben Roberts, Gary Pope, Samantha Loveday, Fée Heyer (UK), Ludvig Kullander (Sweden), Elena Favilli (USA), Tadeja Irmancnik (Slovenia), Gianluca Marani, Alan Vele (Italy), Thierry Baujard (Germany).
On 9 April, several sessions are dedicated to important celebrations of major international brands, such as the 25th anniversary of Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card game, the 35th anniversary of the bright-colored patchwork elephant Elmer, the 80th anniversary of Moomins, and the 50th anniversary of Hello Kitty with an accompanying cake party.
Other conferences will focus on news, trends and licensing previews, from the speech in collaboration with Products of Change on how to promote sustainability through product storytelling, to licensed products for Milano Cortina 2026, to the BrandTrends Group panel on the connections between technology and children’s literature, and much more! A talk by Mondo Tv and Rai Kids on the Grisù IP will be held in Italian and will talk about the return of ‘nostalgia’ brands. Speakers on the second day of the IKLD will be Paul Black, Helena Mansell-Stopher, Daniele Tombini and Marianne James from the UK, Silvia D’Archivio, Annita Romanelli, Silvia Figini, Alan Vele, Moris F. Calasso from Italy, Morghan Fortier and Brett Jubinville from Canada, Emmet O’ Neil (Ireland), Neal Hoskins (Poland), Philippe Guinaudeau (France), Roleff Kråkström (Finland).
Bologna Children’s Book Fair has established in 2024 the TV/FILM Rights Centre, a new business area that welcomes audiovisual producers and enables networking with publishing professionals, for an enhanced book-to-screen proposal. Because of this important innovation, the conferences on 10 April are devoted to the thriving dialogue between audiovisual and publishing. Two meetings are curated by the creative and storytelling agency Book on a Tree. This day includes analyses of trends in both markets, along with case histories such as The Brilliant World of Tom Gates, and tutorials on how to pitch a publishing IP and turn it into the next successful TV or film production. The speakers come from Italy (Francesca Perri, Marco Ponti, Alessandro Gatti, Francesco Catarinolo), Luxembourg (Mark Mertens), the UK (Ken Anderson, Liz Keynes, Olivia Deane, Harriet Webster) and the USA (Stefano Marrone).
Participation in the fourth edition of the IKLD is free of charge and only requires an entrance pass to the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids, at the heart of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. Pre-registration on the Fair website is recommended in order to secure your place at the sessions and request additional materials at the end of the event.