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The Erotic side of London

Posted by Mahir Prasad on 00:08


From the 19th to 21st of November the erotic atmosphere reappeared in London, as one of the most controversial festivals was organised in Britain’s capital.

Thousands of people visited the Olympia Exhibition Hall in Kensington where the Erotica Festival took place.

Although it has been accepted from a big part of the British society and the press has treated it nicely, for years there has been a debate raging as to whether erotica and pornography are one and the same.

Erotica followers insist that while it is adult oriented, erotica is mainly a form of art.

“My definition of erotica is if you take a chicken feather and tickle the top of your girlfriend’s leg then that is erotica. Pornography is when you use the whole live chicken! That’s the big difference and we are the erotic side not the pornographic side,” said Savvas Christodoulou chairman of Erotica Limited.

Mr Christodoulou’s company is the brains behind ‘Erotica UK’, an exhibition that lets the ‘artists’ show case their art.

One of the main characteristics of the Erotica festival is that it is a big market rather than an artistic event.

It is a form of business, with the difference that it focuses on more intimate aspects of human relations.

The event, which is aimed primarily at women and couples, has been running every November for 14 years.

The visitors are encouraged to celebrate or re-kindle their relationships with goods and services aimed to enhance their love lives.
 
World's Biggest Sex Shop

It is actually a big market where one can buy from sex toys to erotic paintings and also attend special workshops like erotic massage or dating coach.

“Don’t forget when the show is on for the 3 days we are technically the biggest sex shop in the world,” added Mr Christodoulou.

“Back in 1997 people were reluctant to buy sex toy because they were situated in sleazy back streets. We made it into an open area with a light environment so people were able to buy products.”

Going the Entertainment way

But it seems that even the sex industry is not recession proof. Over the last couple of years the festival has seen a dip in crowed attendance, with only around 60,000 people turning up this year as compared to 82,000 in 2006.

The decrease in the number of visitors is also related to the use of Internet. According to Mr. Christodoulou:

"People are coming at the festival, see the products and then they go back home to buy them online.’’

In order to counter this problem the organizers are shifting the focus more on the entertainment, with famous burlesque artist Dita Von Teese leading the various acts on show.

It is very obvious that the next few years the festival will move from being a market place to entertainment as an attempt to attract more visitors.

Mr Christodoulou also confirmed that they are in negotiation with a famous pop star to appear in next year’s festival. He also added that it is important to keep reinventing the show in order to keep it fresh.

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