LWF chief marks 'joyful' return

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 15 May, 2023

London Wine Fair (LWF) boss Hannah Tovey officially opened the event this morning with a resounding note of ‘back to form’ optimism.

Tovey officially opened the fair via tannoy at 10am, marking the return of the fair, which was cancelled in 2020 and went online-only in 2021 due to Covid.

Speaking to Harpers this morning, Tovey said the 2023 set up felt like more like the pre-pandemic years of 2018 and 2019.

“I feel like we’re making our way towards normalcy. 2018 and 2019 made leaps forward in terms of visitor numbers, but then we never got the end of our three year plan. But this year feels joyful and exciting.”

She added that there was also marked difference between this year and 2022, when Europe was still very much impacted by the march of Omicron.

While last year the team was “super stretched”, this year, there were plenty of people to build and staff the fair’s sets and staff, with optimism leading up to this morning’s opening.

Harpers will be covering the fair over the next few days, with reporting from Harpers own sessions and from the floor. Stayed tuned.

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