Ldoll Festival 5 - October 18-19 2014 - floor map available

I'm already looking forward to it! Last year(well, this year xD)was awesome as always, Ldoll is really one of the best conventions I've ever been to, including non doll conventions, it's so well organized and everyone is so friendly and helpful and everything is so...pretty! It's like a beauty overload with all the gorgeous dolls and booths and people...I can't wait till the fifth edition, and to see what kind of special things you guys have planned Do you perhaps know if you're going to do a Cosplay competition again?

 

I'm definitely in! ^__^ It's been great since the first one and I had a blast at LDoll 4. I'm also eager to see what beautiful new creations and exhibitors will be in the fantastic number 5.

 

Great date. For the first time I can consider to go ^^

 

I just can't wait !!!

 

I so want to attend the LDoll Festival this year! I know it is going to be great!

 

I'm seriously thinking about going to this. I figure if I'm going to go to another convention it would be way cool to go to France. Ugh, wish I spoke French.....though I didn't have too much of a problem the last times I've gone....I guess I've got a few months to learn.....

 

Don't worry Dollhausen, there are plenty of international visitors who don't speak French(or just a little bit), and personally I've never found it a problem! My French is not very good either, but the organization speaks good English and so do most visitors, and there are always people willing to translate It would be awesome if you could come, don't let the language be a barrier! ^_^

 

I've been to France twice so that wouldn't stop me. It's just that I love the language so much that I kick myself for not having spent more time trying to learn it so something like this could be a learning opportunity. But I'm seriously thinking about it. I could bop up to check out the museums in Paris and then on to Berlin and then to Amsterdam so I can go to the Stedelijk (which I love) and maybe for a concert at the Concertgebouw.... in fact there are so many reasons to go I can't afford not to!

 

My partner and I are considering saving up to go to this. Can you tell me what the usual vendors are like? What proportions of Asian bjd companies/western artist dolls/ fashion doll stuff do you often get? How many vendors and how many attendees were there last year? Is the website from last year still up?

 

allurose

No, unfortunately, the old site seems to have been removed. I attended all 4 Ldoll Festivals and I am very much looking forward to this new 5th edition. The convention is getting bigger and bigger with every year.
To name a few of the companies that attended last year: Dollmore, SADOL, jpop wigs, dollheart, Migidoll, Blue Fairy.
Please keep in mind that this just comes out of my memory and is not complete. I know that Peakswood attended several times but I do not remember if they were still there last year.
Lots of dealers from all over Europe are there, offering dolls, clothes and accessories from even more companies.
One of the highlights in my opinion are the numerous artists, showing of their own creations and selling them of course. (But You have to be there early in order to get one of these as there never are enough dolls for all the demands and they sell out very fast.
Lots of people sell accessories like jewelry, props of every kind, wigs, bags, clothes, shoes....
All in all, this is collectors heaven (if You have saved up enough beforehand).

Make sure to bring cash with You as there is no possibility of paying by card and I did not see any banking machines anywhere around where You could draw more money if needed.

I hope this info helps.

I myself will definitely attend again this year.

 

the site is : http://ldollfestival.com/?lang=fr

 

Thank you this is very helpful! I did fine the LDoll Flickr and was impressed with the size of the convention and the variety of dealers. I definitely want to go. My partner and I did the math this morning and it looks like something we will need to be saving for for a while, so we won't make it this year. We are coming all the way from California, USA!

Right now our goal is to come next year. We hope to be ready to vend by that time as well. And spend a week in Paris . In the meantime I'll be following this thread and other chatter about the con. I wish we could do it this year!

I have one more question, hopefully it's all right to ask... Were there any artists selling porcelain BJDs last year?

 

Since I'll likely be going to other cities around this I was checking airfares and found that it's cheaper to fly in and out of London than Paris or Lyon. Does anyone who lives in Europe have any tips for other cities it might be cheap to fly into and out of? My likely itinerary besides Lyon would be Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam and London.......I was thinking I could fly into one place and explore the art scene there then train down to Lyon etc...the order of events wouldn't matter as my schedule could be very flexible....

 

dollhousen, There is one of my friends (from Finland) who also found out that is cheaper to take a flight to Paris and go to Lyon from there by train. Maybe that would be a good choise? I'm flying from Helsinki to Munich or Frankfurt, can't remember. But I'm definitely going! I bought my tickets and reserved a hotel room already. ^^ Fantastic! I'm not going to be having a booth this year, but I'm helping out friends there.

allurose, I don't remember there being anyone with porceline dolls for sale last year.

 

@ allurose: I still have the vendors plan from two years ago:
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e106/saiyaku/tische.png

Here is the vendors plan of last year:
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e106/saiyaku/tisch.jpg

Some vendors accept credit card like the big dealers like Think Pink for example (but it's seldom).
Sometimes also paying via PayPal is possible (I think Switch offered this last year... but I'm not sure).
Like crystalenchantress said, it's better to bring enough cash with you.
There is also a cash machine in the entrance hall but two years ago all the money was gone at the end of the first day. ^^;

 

Thank you saiyaku and xaya for the info! What a lot of vedors there were! I am definitely going to start saving for next year.

Taking the train from a closer or cheaper city sounds wonderful. The trains are always so peaceful and easy compared to an airplane!

 

Thanks! I checked London, Paris and Berlin but I should look around as we get closer to the date. Guess I better check the train costs as well....but I will be getting around to several other cities so I can move the dates for all this around pretty easily. I'm very interested to see some of the smaller vendors!

 

I don't know if people already know, but just in case; If you are planning to buy plane-tickets it is always good to clear your browser history and delete cookies whenever you go check plane-fares. The booking sites often track your interests, and if you choose the same destination twice, they often raise the price because they can see you are interested. It's very annoying I know, but I just wanted to tell about the evil tricks the booking sites uses ^^"

 

Kurisu, I hadn't thought about that, that's propably why it cost more than last time! (Grrrrrr this annoys me so much!).

 

Aw Xaya, one can't always remember or know everything, don't feel bad ^^

I'm hard at work when it comes to Ldoll, I have rather big plans and I hope I succeed in them.

I'm also anxious to see what Soom has designed for us!

 

I'm very excited for ldoll again, it has been so much fun every time I have attended! I have big plans for this year, hopefully I will be able to make everything I have in mind ^^. I have bought plane tickets and booked us hotel rooms so now I need to focus on sewing! Aaand I still haven't made scrapbook/album from last years photos even though I have had the pictures printed by professional company since hmm december? -.-

 

It's my first time I can visit LDoll and I'm very happy! I love to look at photos from previous festivals and finally can see all this beauty personally ^^
Also this is first try to attend for such big and awesome festival *///////*
It's so embracing!

 

Hi Sion!
We can't wait to welcome you at Ldoll!!!!
We hope you'll have the time of your life at the convention

Do not hesitate if you need advice on anything, including housing

Jaina -

 

Jaina, thank you so much for such a kindness =^^= I can't wait for October.

 

The contests seem to be fabulous! I'm trying to take part in two of them!

Sion, These past years LDoll has been fantastic, I'm sure you'll have great time there!

 

Yay! I decided I'll come to Ldoll this year. It will be my first BJD convention and I'm so excited!
Any suggestions for a hotel nearby?

 

Wiske, there are plenty of hotels nearby the venue. ^^ For excample a lots of Ibis budjet hotels from which this one is the closest:

Hotel ibis Styles Lyon Villeurbanne
130 Boulevard du 11 Novembre 1918
69100 Villeurbanne
France

This hotel used to be Holiday Inn, I stayed there for the very first LDoll and it was ok. I'm usually on a budget when travelling so better to check many options? If you google the venue address, you can find many hotels in the map. Double Mixte 19 Avenue Gaston Berger 69100 Villeurbanne France. Public transportation is very easy and nice to use so anything with either bus stop or tram nearby is really good. Good luck with finding a hotel!

 

Xaya, thanks so much for your help ! That looks pretty good!

 

Hello Ldoll team, can someone answer for my email? Or is it too late for stand reservations?

 

Professional stands are booked full, that much I know of :/

 

Yes, I know.
I don't need professional stand.

 

Hi Silje!

I'm so sorry the reply to your email is taking too long >.<
Lelahel, who is in charge of stand reservations has had a lot of emails recently and she needs a little time to answer them all. Surely you'll get an answer by Monday
As far as I know, we still have available space for designer and amateur stands. So you should be fine!

I'm really sorry >.< Thank you for your patience!

Jaina,
Ldoll Team.

 

Hi Jaina Thank you for answer.
I can wait.

 

Are there talks and panels and workshops as part of this, along with the stalls and competitions that are mentioned on the website? What language(s) are they in?

Are there things that might interest a partner who's not particularly into dolls? (Is into models. Would require some introvert time-out space.)

What are the opening times? What are ticket prices? (The website's link for "Tickets" doesn't work for me.)

Sorry for the rapid-fire questions. I'm trying to get a feel for the type of event.

 

Silje - Lelahel told me she had replied to you, did you get her email?

Vetiver - Hi! Prices have not been yet updated on the site but they should be by the end of the week.
We are trying to open ticket sales for July 1st. Presale tickets should still be 10&#8364; one day this year.
As for the opening times: presale ticket owners enter from 9:30am to 7:00pm on Saturday, and 10;30am to 5:00pm on Sunday.

For someone not interested in dolls, well, we do have a meet-up area with tables and chairs for anyone to lounge and a small sandwich/coffee sales stall. But I'm afraid there won't be anything not doll related happening.
However, Ldoll takes place only 10 minutes away from France's biggest in-city public park. It's an amazing place, with a zoo and a lake. And it's entirely free. There's also a cinema complex behind the park with movies in English.
http://www.loisirs-parcdelatetedor.com/en/
The whole of Lyon is easily accessible from Ldoll with the tram that stops 50m from the convention center. If your partner wanted to see anything in particular, we could advice places and directions.

Regarding talks and panels, we do not have any happening this year.
As a matter of fact, we'd be extremely interested to know what would interest visitors in regards to panels!! Because we are not sure our ideas would interest enough people.
We did organize a make-up workshop two years ago, but we didn't have that many people who wanted to join. This year we've turned it into our new face-up competition.
We offer the meet-up space with the chairs and tables especially to allow people and groups to get together and talk.

Is it more the conference type of panels you'd be interested in? Specific group meets?
What kind of workshops?

 

Yes, and I answered. :]

 

Jaina - Merci! We enjoyed the short time we spent in Lyon several years ago, and have talked about going back to explore the city beyond the traboules, the confluence and the upside-down elephant.

Thanks for helping me understand what Ldoll is like. It sounds like a large market space where people who sell things associated with dolls can display their wares. There are also some competitions to watch or take part in, and a space where the people who attend could arrange their own meet-ups.

And here are some slightly random thoughts for things I wouldn't be too surprised to find on the programme of a doll convention:
- Tiny eyes: a survey of eyes you can buy that are 8 mm and smaller
- Children of Mars and Lion: a genealogy of Iplehouse male head sculpts
- Seasonal colour analysis for common resin tones: is peach-gold fundamentally "warm"?
- Customising techniques: Dremel carving
- Customising techniques: dyeing resin
- As resin ages: changes to expect as resin matures and mellows, with ways to slow the changes if they're not things you want
- Meet-ups for enthusiasts of various styles and makes of dolls.

All the best with the festival. If I'm in France in October I'll visit!

 

I'd love some workshops and am sad to hear there will not really be any. But if you're still planning/considering something, I'd love to join something like this:

A face-up workshop for beginners! I have no experience with face-ups and am rather afraid to try by myself. This setting would be lovely to try and learn from experts.

I'm also very interested in a wigmaking workshop. In particular the beautiful angora wigs that have come into fashion recently, where the hair is glued on wig caps.

Other than that perhaps a workshop in outfit/style coordination: which colors/outfits suit your dolls' coloring? What brings out the features best? Similar to the same kind of workshops humans sometimes follow .

I'd love to be able to buy face-up supplies at LDoll !

 

Wow! So fast!!! Congrats with full stands! And thank you for your hard work!
It's so interesting to see the list ^^

 

Oh it will be so exiting to see who will be attending as seller this year! I'll be there helping out friends this time and have more time for chatting and shopping! ^^

 

I might come this year for the first time, I'm really excited and I can't wait !!!
I'm a newbie to BJDs so it might be a great shock !

 

lelahel Thank you for your work! *goes to see who will be there*

 

Wow this is a very impressive spread! I wish I could go so much more now...next year for sure.

 

Wowww, so many big names and promising smaller names! I'm sure there will be more things I want than I can actually buy, but that was to be expected. ^^

 

WOnderful to see the list! Wheee I'm sure I'll have plenty of things to bring home! ^^

 

So happy to be at Ldoll this year !!!!!

Hope I'll can see all the booths ....

 

I really really want to go, but I'm not sure what my Uni schedule will look like yet, not to mention how much money I'll have and since I'd most likely be going alone there's that to consider too. Still, I really want to go!

 

We can only keep our fingers crossed for your schedule and budget, but don't be afraid to come to Ldoll on your own.
You'll definitely feel comfortable and I know you'll have many people eager to meet you ^^ There is a meet-up area especially dedicated to socializing. A good tip is to bring a doll along

 

That's great to know! If I find out I can go that'll definitely come in handy. I'll just have to figure out what doll to take and how to transport him/her with me

 

I'm curious about the female doll they have in the advertisements. Is she only for sale at Ldoll? She's quite lovely.

 

Hi Do you mean the dolls we have in the Ldoll banners?
They are respectively a Feeple Chloe from Fairyland and a Peak's Woods Goldie. They are dolls belonging to members of the Ldoll staff, and they are not part of the special events. They are not limited, so they should still be available from Fairyland and Peak's Woods

 

Thank you! That is exactly what I mean.

 

Do the sellers at the stands provide bags for goods, or is it expected that you bring your own? I plan to buy dolls whilst there and I'm just worried about transporting them round. Can you purchase an item then leave it with the sellers to pick up at the end of the day? Or does this kind of thing vary from seller to seller?

 

laurenk418, some of the sellers do provide some sort of bags for their dolls but it's usually just a simple piece of fabric with padding and ribbons.

I personally prefer Faery Kiss travel cases, they are safe, well made and super cute. She's coming to Ldoll 5 so I strongly recommend you getting a animal case from her, I can guarantee that you won't regret it. x) (I'm ordering 2 more cases from her to my girls before the Ldoll trip!)