Three-day festival will prove a major draw

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival returns this month to fill Kendal with superheroes, satirists and Simpsons for three days, says organiser JULIE TAIT
By The Newsroom
Published 1st Oct 2015, 18:00 BST
More than 100 comic and cartoon creators will converge on Kendal including Marvel artist Stuart ImmonenMore than 100 comic and cartoon creators will converge on Kendal including Marvel artist Stuart Immonen
More than 100 comic and cartoon creators will converge on Kendal including Marvel artist Stuart Immonen

The third Lakes International Comic Art Festival is right on your doorstep and is the only festival of its kind in the UK.

Modelled on European-style festivals, it takes over the whole town of Kendal for a weekend with events, talks, cinema, live draws, exhibitions, a family zone, marketplace and the chance to see leading comic creators at work.

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The festival celebrates the whole spectrum of comic art, inspiring existing comic fans and generating new audiences and creators, too.

More than 100 comic and cartoon creators will converge on Kendal including co-creator of The Simpsons and Futurama Bill MorrisonMore than 100 comic and cartoon creators will converge on Kendal including co-creator of The Simpsons and Futurama Bill Morrison
More than 100 comic and cartoon creators will converge on Kendal including co-creator of The Simpsons and Futurama Bill Morrison

To use that cliche “there is something for everyone”, whether you’re a closet Viz fan, enjoy/ed Beano as a child or adult, are a superhero groupie or like to immerse yourself in a graphic novel of some shape or form.

This year, from October 16-18, Kendal will be transformed with more than 100 creators from across the world descending on this small market town and every nook and cranny celebrating cartoons and comics often in unexpected ways.

Highlights include :

Bill Morrison, co-creator of The Simpsons and Futurama, making his first visit to the UK and revealing how characters get from page to screen.

More than 100 comic and cartoon creators will converge on Kendal including iconic British satirist Steve BellMore than 100 comic and cartoon creators will converge on Kendal including iconic British satirist Steve Bell
More than 100 comic and cartoon creators will converge on Kendal including iconic British satirist Steve Bell
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The mighty Steve Bell, one of the UK’s leading political cartoonists, opens the festival on Friday night where controversy and humour will reign supreme.

Phono+Graphic at Kendal Museum will feature 60 vinyl album covers by 60 comic artists proving there’s more to comic artists than meets the eye. Includes covers from Gorillaz, Meatloaf, Elbow, Shakin’ Stevens (!) and more.

Those rascals from Viz Graham Dury and Simon Thorp will lead a workshop on the Art of Viz – How to Draw Half-A***d Cartoons – while elsewhere in town a Great Drunken Bake Off is likely to end in tragic burned offerings.

Canadian Stuart Immonen makes his first visit to the UK. A legend for superhero fans having drawn every character you could imagine and now main artist on the hugely-popular Star Wars comic

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A Japanese programme with manga exhibition, workshops, Studio Ghibli films, Japanese food and more.

And a mostly free family zone with lots to watch and draw for kids of all ages.

For the full programme of events see www.comicartfestival.com