Acquisition of Brussels and Namur events from Conceptum! S.A. extends Easyfairs’ leadership in the pop culture market segment.
Multinational event organiser and venue manager Easyfairs has acquired the Belgium-based fan and pop culture events Made in Asia and Retro Made in Asia. These two events, taking place in Brussels and Namur, further strengthen Easyfairs Heroes network and its leadership of this market segment in continental Europe.
Easyfairs currently organises more than 10 events in Europe under the “Heroes” brand, ranging from Spain to Sweden. With these two new events focused on the world of manga and Asian pop culture for the Belgian market, Heroes now brings together over 165,000 fans and more than 900 exhibitors during its four annual Belgian events (FACTS Spring, FACTS Fall, Made in Asia and Retro Made in Asia).
While FACTS is focused on US and European fantasy, comics and science-fiction, the newly acquired events focus on Asian influences — but there is huge cross-over between these aspects of modern pop culture and their respective “fandoms”. Dirk Oosterlinck, Managing director Easyfairs Events Belgium, stressed the various synergies that this development will bring. “Heroes is headed towards an even stronger position on the Belgian and European markets, which will result in innovative content, reinforced partnerships and above all exciting new experiences for our visitors.”
Easyfairs is thus well placed to broaden its target audience, reaching new fandoms in different strategic locations and consolidating its position in this growing market segment.
Made in Asia (MIA) is the leading Japanese pop culture convention in Belgium and welcomed more than 70,000 visitors during its last edition in Brussels on March 16-18, 2018. Launched in 2008, MIA has grown from a small manga and anime convention to the national phenomenon it is today, occupying five exhibition halls in Brussels Expo. Its sister event, Retro Made in Asia, takes place in Namur Expo and unites more than 17,000 fans each year during the first weekend of October.
Florent Godin, CEO of Conceptum! commented: “We are proud to see our events fully integrated in Europe’s largest network of pop culture events. We are convinced that MIA will be able to benefit from the synergies that such a network can provide.”
Author: Adam Parry
Adam is the co-founder and editor of www.eventindustrynews.com Adam, a technology evangelist also organises Event Tech Live, Europe’s only show dedicated to event technology and the Event Technology Awards. Both events take place in November, London.
