Background
In 2004 planning and evaluation got underway for London 2010. It was soon clear that Royal Mail could not undertake to organise or fund the type of event enjoyed in 2000, so it would have to be a more compact show, or have no show at all. By early 2005, after evaluating various venues, the Business Design Centre in Islington was judged to be the best option.

The Festival of Stamps
The concept of the Festival is that the main focus will be the International Philatelic Exhibition being held at the Business Design Centre. However, other philatelic events will then also be held over the ensuing weeks and months at other locations. All these, along with the International Philatelic Exhibition, make up the Festival. Since 2010 will be 100 years since the accession of King George V, some of the focus will be on philately of that reign.

The International Philatelic Exhibition
A contract for the lease of the entire exhibition space in the Business Design Centre was signed by a company called Stamp World Exhibitions, which was formed for the purpose of running international exhibitions in the UK. The first payment was made in May 2005, the second in May 2006, the third in May 2007, the fourth in May 2008, and the final one is due in May 2009.

A trade stand layout was prepared and stand space bookings opened in September 2006. Contracts were signed in December 2006 by those members of the Trade wishing to take stands, and deposits paid in February 2007. There will be 200 stands, plus a large Royal Mail stand. All stand space has been reserved. A list of stand holders and post office administrations represented either directly or indirectly can be found, along with the stand layout, on this website. The number of stand holders, the number of these from overseas, the number of postal administrations represented, and the number of competitive frames, means that the London 2010 exhibition will be about 70% the size of The Stamp Show 2000 which was held at Earls Court.

A logo has been designed and registered as a trade mark for the overall event, and is being used by all parts of the Festival of Stamps. Permission to use it must be obtained from Stamp World Exhibitions.

There will be 2460 competitive frames available, comprising some 1230 frames on show from 8 to 11 May, with the exhibits then changed for a different 1230 frames from 12 to 15 May. As this total is some 30% less than in 2000, the competitive Classes will also be slightly restricted. The presently planned competitive classes for London 2010 are Traditional, Postal History, Literature, Postal Stationery, Thematics, Aerophilately and Revenues. There will also be a Youth Class, but restricted to one frame only, and also a One Frame Class which will be restricted to King George V and related material.

There will also be a small 32-frame section of invited exhibits, all of which will be relevant to the reign of King George V. Images from these invited exhibits will also be projected on a large screen in the main seating and catering area.

The London 2010 International Philatelic Exhibition has been granted full FIP Patronage as a World Exhibition, and all the competitive part of the exhibition will be run according to the FIP regulations. The Contract for the FIP Patronage was formally signed at the St Petersburg International Exhibition in June 2007.

The funding for the London 2010 Exhibition is coming from a number of sponsors, including Royal Mail, the ABPS, the British Philatelic Trust and other philatelic and related organisations. In addition personal Patrons are being invited to contribute £250 each, and sponsorship from philatelic organisations to sponsor the 2460 competitive frames is being sought at £10 per frame. The main single source of funds is the trade stand rentals. There will, of course, be a wide variety of other sources of income. The objective is to put on an outstanding show using all the funds available, so the more funds that can be generated, the better the show will be.

The organisation consists of a series of Teams and individuals with specific responsibilities, supported by various Consultants making up the Organising Team. All of these work under the guidance of the Exhibition Chairman. All parties concerned with the organisation are unpaid volunteers. More information on the organisation can be found here.

Plans for Alternative Show Withdrawn
In the late summer of 2006 plans for an alternative show at ExCeL were put forward and have been much written about in the philatelic press. This created a little confusion in the minds of some parts of the philatelic community as to what might happen. Plans for the London 2010 International Philatelic Exhibition at the Business Design Centre continued unaffected by these press reports. In early 2007 these alternative plans were withdrawn, hopefully ending whatever confusion may have existed. There will, however, be a complementary Philatex event taking place at the Royal Horticultural Hall on 5 and 6 May 2010, known as Philatex Extra. This forms part of the overall Festival of Stamps.