More than 2,500 people attended the first day of the UK's biggest Financial Planning event yesterday, the two day PFS Festival of Financial Planning.

Nearly 3,700 people in total have registered to attend the event which ends today, with 2,545 attending on the first day. Most delegates are Financial Planners, Paraplanners, Wealth Managers and IFAs. More than 70 sessions and seminars were planned and nearly 100 exhibitors were taking part. It is expected that well over 3,000 will attend in total.

The free-to-attend festival, set to be the biggest Financial Planning event ever to take place in the UK, is being held at the NEC near Birmingham.

The event has been billed as a festival-style celebration of Financial Planning. It features dozens of seminars, keynote speakers, workshops and a number of fun elements including live music, a radio station presented by leading Financial Planner Martin Bamford of Informed Choice and five separate 'stages' featuring speakers, including one venue with a capacity for nearly 2,000 attendees. 

Key Festival 'zones' include:

• A ‘village green’ - a central part of the event - with speakers and live entertainment
• Festival Radio - hosted by Chartered Financial Planner Martin Bamford of Informed Choice
• Fintech start-up cafe 
• ‘Future generations’ area with university and student attendance

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable will close the event today. He is one of many well known speakers including England’s World Cup-winning rugby coach Sir Clive Woodward and two former Pensions Ministers, Baroness Ros Altman and Sir Steve Webb, who spoke yesterday. 

Leading Financial Planners have also been speaking including PFS President Sharon Sutton, Pete Matthew, Julie Lord, Steve Martin, Phil Billingham, Damien Rylett, from US Life Planning guru George Kinder and many others. 

Expert investment speakers will include Trevor Greetham of Royal London Asset Management, Edward Bonham Carter of Jupiter, 7IM founder Justin Urquhart Stewart and many others including speakers from Blackrock, M&G and several other fund managers.

The PFS Festival this year merged its regional annual Financial Planning conferences and symposiums into one big event under the Festival theme - billed as a Glastonbury-style get together to celebrate the best in the Financial Planning and Paraplanning professions and to encourage networking and dialogue.

There is more information about the event here: www.pfsfestival.org