The Transmedia Hall is the new hub of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair for entertainment and licensing development addressed to preschool, kids, teens and young adults audiences
A story is a spark that can ignite entire worlds. Today, narratives no longer stay on the page: they travel from books to screens, from video games to toys, from real experiences to consumer goods. In Bologna this content journey happens every year more intensively, with a great variety of professionals with different backgrounds meeting and building new business opportunities.
That’s why, after we consider Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF) the reference point for producers and streaming platforms seeking IP with high adaptation potential, it is also the ideal place to develop a Transmedia Hall, that is an innovative area which looks at the future of content and business development in a concrete and effective way.
The aim of this Hall is to bring the fair’s non-publishing initiatives together in one ecosystem where entertainment, licensing, toys, and multi-platform content meet in a single, powerful negotiating and strategic experience. For the global kids’ entertainment and licensing industry, it means one place where licensors, producers, game developers, toy makers, publishers and retailers sit at the same table.
Four Areas, One Hub
Bologna Licensing Trade Fair / Kids (BLTF/Kids) is the leading international marketplace for brands targeting preschoolers, kids, teens, and young adults, where licensors, agencies, licensees, and retailers form partnerships, develop IP extensions, and plan new product lines. Not only a rich exhibition area, but also its Licensing Business Lounge offers business opportunities and facilities. New for 2027 is the adjacent Retail Lounge, welcoming distributors and retailers. In 2026, the organization facilitated matchmaking with over 30 retail companies.
Now in its 20th edition and an integral part of BCBF, BLTF/Kids has spent two decades adapting to new content and consumer trends, and recently become the beating heart of the Transmedia Hall. Its evolution mirrors that of the industry itself: from brand licensing for children to a platform where publishing, audiovisual, gaming and toy players meet.
The TV/Film Rights Centre, launched in 2024, organized over 600 at the last edition. It is the B2B space where publishing meets the entertainment industry, with one-to-one matchmaking and pitching sessions for book-to-screen adaptation rights and vice versa, serving producers and streaming platforms.
The Games Business Centre, launched in 2025 in response to extraordinary market demand, connects the video game industry with publishing, audiovisual, toy, and licensing players through private workstations, tailored matchmaking, pitching sessions, exclusive previews, and talks on cross-media rights.
Launched last April, the Toy Zone is where toys meet publishing: an exhibition space for products, licensed lines, and new catalog additions, plus the Toy Lounge, with B2B tables and customized brand panels that give manufacturers direct contact with publishers, retailers, and distributors.
Bologna, including its Licensing and Transmedia offer, shortens the distance between an idea and a deal: matchmaking, pitching, portfolio reviews, and expert insight all live under one roof, at the crossroads of the sectors that make a property travel.
Save the Date
Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids and Transmedia Hall at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair: April 5-8, 2027
Transmedia Hall info: transmedia@bolognafiere.it
BLTF/Kids info: licensing@bolognafiere.it
We will be in London at Brand Licensing Europe, to promote the 20th edition of the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair and the Transmedia Hall. Come to visit us at the Hall E-132.
