London Film and Comic Con cancelled as organisers blame Brexit

Brexit uncertainty has been blamed by organisers of the London Film and Comic Con, as the underlying cause of escalating costs that, they say, have made event too expensive for them to run. The London Film and Comic Con (LFCC) was due to run 23-24 November at Olympia London. Organisers of the fan convention fly in US actors from sci-fi fantasy films and TV series to the UK for fan autograph sessions, and say that the current weakness of the pound against the dollar have hit them hard. Jason Joiner, MD of LFCC owner Showmasters Events, said in a Facebook post to event attendees: “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.” He claimed it was a ‘properly thought-through’ decision, adding: “We do feel with all this uncertainty in the world and with the exchange rate fluctuation these issues are unlikely to stabilise 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.” LFCC said that it will automatically issue refunds on tickets for the winter convention that have already been purchased. Since LFCC ran at Olympia in London at the end of July the pound has dropped around four cents to the dollar from 1.25 to 1.21. The decision from Showmasters leaves one show in town this winter for exhibitors and attendees, as Brexit doesn’t appear to have worried MCM Comic Con enough to pull their winter event at ExCeL London from the calendar – one month later than the Showmasters event.