Internet Week Europe is back for a second year with a whole new lineup of speakers and online and offline events.

The five-day festival celebrates the best of Europe's internet industry and aims to create a vibrant discussion around topics such as social media, privacy, cyber crime, mobile creativity, networking, politics and Europe’s start-up culture through a series of open-source events.  

Internet Week Europe builds on the success of its American counterpart, Internet Week New York. The fourth edition of the NY-based festival was held in June and attracted more than 20,000 participants.

Around half as many people attended the first edition of Internet Week Europe but in its second year the festival is “already feeling like an established annual event for the European digital community,” said Nick Farnhill, co-chairman of Internet Week Europe.

Leaders from Yahoo!, TED, LinkedIn, BIMA, VitaminT, Soundcloud, BBC, FT and Google have already signed up to host Internet Week Europe events in 2011.

“Following on from Internet Week NY's successful HQ, this year Internet Week Europe has its first-ever Internet Week Europe headquarters at The Hospital Club in Covent Garden,” disclosed Penelope Shaw, Festival Director, Internet Week Europe in an email to Relaxnews.

“Central to the week’s foundation of openness and inclusivity, the headquarters will serve as a hub for the more than 200 expected citywide events, providing accessible content, wi-fi and a gathering spot for festival goers.”

While the European festival is physically located in London, people from all around the globe can watch live event feeds and participate in discussions online.

“We will be encouraging anyone and everyone to participate on social media as well as by viewing the content from the Internet Week Europe HQ via Livestream on the Internet Week Europe website,” said Shaw.

“Internet Week celebrates the openness of the Internet,” added Shaw, “which is why the livestream will be free. Not only are we bringing in speakers from other parts of the world, but we'll be Skyping panelists in from across the world to make sure the whole voice of Europe is heard in shaping our festival.”

Internet Week Europe’s community-created events are what make the festival stand out from other major European internet events such as OFFF and LeWeb; any organization can take part in the festival by hosting its own event during the week. The result is a festival that encompasses conferences, workshops, panels, entertainment, social media meet-ups, parties and even industry speed-dating.

The highlight of the 2011 edition will be The Lovie Awards show, which doubles as the grand finale of Internet Week Europe.

As the European sister of the world-renowned Webby Awards, the first ever Lovie Awards honor the best of the best on the web.

Internet Week Europe is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and runs from November 7-11. The Lovie Awards will take place on Friday, November 11 at St Luke’s Hawksmoor church in London. The full list of events can be found on the Internet Week Europe website: http://www.internetweekeurope.com/.