The organisers of The Cycle Show and The London eBike Festival have confirmed the new show dates for 2021, as 25-27 June, following further consultation.
In July, it was confirmed that The Cycle Show, ‘the UK’s biggest and longest-running bike exhibition’, is moving to one of the UK’s most iconic venues at Alexandra Palace, alongside the London eBike Festival for a new-look event in 2021.
The original dates for the two events, 16-18 April 2021, were expected to utilise over 11,000 sqm of exhibition space. Due to Covid-19, the combined shows have been pushed back to June 2021.
Show owner Immediate Media has also confirmed that long-term Cycle Show organiser Chris Holman has resumed his role at the helm as it returns to London in 2021. Holman takes on the role of Event Director for both shows.
Holman’s career in cycling events extends back to the Bike Show, launched by Future Publishing, in the 1990s and the Backyard Jam BMX events in the early 2000s. He became the Event Director for The Cycle Show in 2012 before taking over the organising role for the Rouleur Classic in 2018.
Holman will continue to stay as a consultant to Rouleur whilst organising the shows at Alexandra Palace.
“The switch back to Upper Street Events was a very easy decision to make,” Holman said. “After chatting to several of the distributors and brands at the last COREbike Show it was very clear that Alexandra Palace was a venue that Upper Street needed to look very hard at.
“As the event requirements of cycle brands have developed, the concept of hosting shows in box-like venues seems to be very much a thing of the past as witnessed internationally with many trade shows closing their doors or having to radically change their USP.
“The enthusiast market also clearly increasingly wants something truly engaging and is willing to travel to multiple locations to get their cycling fix. Plus, there’s now a greatly expanded new audience in London who want to find out more about cycling too.”
Immediate Media’s ownership of Upper Street Events was also said to be a key factor in the appointment. Holman continued, “Our research [has] allowed us to speak to an incredibly diverse audience and get insights from various demographics that may never have thought about cycling before the lockdown, but since March have re-engaged with it in new ways.
“The research piece will be the start of a Cycling Intelligence programme where The Cycle Show, in tandem with the Immediate titles, can start to give cycling brands invaluable information about audiences that are traditionally very hard to reach and understand.”
The first release of research results under the Cycling Intelligence banner is titled; ‘After a pivotal summer and record bike sales, what’s next for the UK market?’ and will be available to the trade at the end of October.
Regarding the change of date from April to June, Holman explained “While the current dates fall outside the six-month restriction period for events, the venue was able to offer us the June alternatives, so after consulting with the exhibitors it seemed prudent to move things back two months.
“It helps alleviate current concerns from brands about stock availability given the backlog of supply and the new dates just give everyone more breathing space to prepare. Plus, the new dates coincide with the Grand Depart for the Tour de France; so we’ll create a destination to watch the race outdoors with a jumbo screen, bar, plus those amazing views of London as a backdrop.”
www.cycleshow.co.uk
www.londonebikefestival.co.uk
