London Film and Comic Con (LFCC) will take place in the Olympia Grand Hall on Friday July 6 until Sunday July 8, and this year’s global gathering of fans and stars is set to be the biggest yet.

The weekend convention has been an annual event since 2004 and celebrates the best in “films, cult television, gaming, anime and comics,” with fans being given the opportunity to meet their favourite stars, attend special talks, pay for professional photo shoots, and engage with other fans from all across the world.

This year, major stars set to attend include: Gillian Anderson (The X Files), Anthony Stewart Head (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Merlin), Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead), Hayden Panettiere (Heroes), Laura Vandervoort (Smallville, V), Holly Marie Combs (Charmed), and Robert Maschio (Scrubs), along with dozens of others from the world of film, TV, and beyond.

High-profile guests from previous years include: Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future), William Shatner (Star Trek), Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings) and Alex Kingston (ER, Doctor Who), while many more are expected to be announced for this year’s convention in the coming months.

LFCC is organised by Showmasters, who are also involved with the planning of such events as Eternal Twilight, Hallowhedon, Mike Tyson Experience, and London Comic Mart. Their convention season has become a cornerstone of London’s tourism scene, with an event like LFCC offering European fans an alternative to the San Diego ComicCon International, which attracts thousands and thousands of attendees every year.

Now with the long-running success of LFCC and the other aforementioned conventions, Britain has successfully established itself as a major international draw for American television and film stars.

The Showmasters Twitter feed has over 3,000 followers, while its online message board has over 15,000 registered users, demonstrating the strength of the organisation’s online presence. Guest announcements are frequently made first on the Twitter feed, however, news of Gillian Anderson’s appearance at LFCC caused the website to crash for a brief period while site members attempted to post their responses.

Considering that many of LFCC’s biggest guests have Twitter accounts also, such as Holly Marie Combs, Hayden Panettiere, and the just-announced Robert Maschio, the organisers are in a fortunate position of being able to effectively utilise the full power of social media in order to spread news about LFCC and the rest of Showmasters’ upcoming events for 2012.

It is important to note that the organisers have moved LFCC 2012 from Earls Court, its previous home since 2005, to the Olympia Hall in Hammersmith in order to make room for the Olympic Games, set to take place in London this July and August.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/entropy1138/

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