The Lakes International Comic Art Festival

Annual English comics art festival

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival

Status| Active
Genre| Comics, Comic art
Date(s)| mid-October
Frequency| Annual
Venue| Venue(s) Old Laundry Theatre, Windermere Jetty Museum
Location(s)| Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria
Country| England, United Kingdom
Inaugurated| 18 October 2013; 11 years ago (2013-10-18)
Founder| Julie Tait
Founder partners: The Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal College
Most recent| 14–16 October 2022
Next event| October 2023
Patrons| Charlie Adlard, Yomi Ayeni, Kate Charlesworth, Stephen L. Holland, Sean Phillips, Zoom Rockman, Bryan Talbot and Mary M. Talbot
Festival board: Chris Hogg, Maheen Murtaza, Dinah Rose, Peter Kessler and Gemma Sosnowsky
Website| https://www.comicartfestival.com/

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival, often referred to as LICAF, is an annual comics art festival. Established in 2013,[1] the not-for-profit festival takes place for a weekend in October each year.

From 2013 until 2021 LICAF took place in Kendal, a market town on the edge of the English Lake District, United Kingdom. In 2022 LICAF moved to multiple venues in Bowness-on-Windermere for the tenth festival,[2] in South Lakeland, Cumbria.

## History

[edit]

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival established the Comics Laureate in 2015. Dave Gibbons, best known for his artwork on Watchmen as well as numerous projects for Marvel, DC Comics and 2000AD, was appointed as the inaugural Comics Laureate in February 2015.[3]

To celebrate the 200th Anniversary of Cumbrian author and illustrator Beatrix Potter in 2016, the festival launched a student competition Beatrix Potter Reimagined. International comic artists, including Luke McGarry, Duncan Fegredo, Hannah Berry and Charlie Adlard, also contributed artworks that interpreted Beatrix Potter’s tales with a modern comic art style.[4]

Interview with Sergio Aragonés at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2017

At the fifth festival in October 2017, cartoonist Sergio Aragonés launched a new accolade in the comic art industry, the Sergio Aragonés International Award for Excellence in Comic Art.[5] The award was established as a partnership between the National Cartoonists Society and the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. The first award was presented by Aragonés to English artist Dave McKean.[6]

The sixth Lakes International Comic Art Festival in 2018 saw the official launch of Traces of the Great War, an anthology of illustrated short stories featuring over twenty international comic book artists, graphic novelists and writers.[7] The publication was part of 14–18 NOW, the UK’s arts programme commemorating the World War I centenary.[8]

In 2019, in partnership with the Lakes International Comic Art Festival, the National Cartoonists Society hosted the inaugural NCSFest in downtown Huntington Beach, California, United States, from 17 to 19 May.[9]

## Honors and awards

[edit]

### Comics Laureates

[edit]

As described in the comics internet news site Bleeding Cool, the job of the UK Comics Leaurate is to play... "an ambassadorial and educational role for the comic genre and aims to raise awareness of the impact comics can have in terms of increasing literacy and creativity. The appointment is made biennially to a distinguished comics creator, writer or artist in recognition of their outstanding achievement in the genre."[10]

* 2015 Dave Gibbons
* 2016 Charlie Adlard[11]
* 2017 Hannah Berry[12]
* 2021–2023 Stephen L. Holland, co-owner and curator of Page 45, a comic book shop in Nottingham[13][14]
* 2024 Bobby Joseph[15]

### The Sergio Aragonés International Award for Excellence in Comic Art

[edit]

* 2017 Dave McKean
* 2018 Hunt Emerson[16]
* 2019 Charlie Adlard (presented at the Reubens Awards at the inaugural NCSFest in Huntington Beach, California)[17]
* 2021 Boulet[18]
* 2022 Posy Simmonds[19]
* 2023 Viz[20]

## See also

[edit]

* Comica — London International Comics Festival (2003–2013)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Sneddon, Laura. "Comic and graphic novel stars take over Kendal for new festival showcase". The Guardian (17 October, 2013). Retrieved 4 June 2018.
2. ^ Badham, Matt. "Panel show: For a decade now comic makers have descended on the Lake District for a weekend of creativity". Big Issue North (10 October, 2022). Retrieved 17 October 2022.
3. ^ "Dave Gibbons, first comics laureate: 'They're not just cheap, lurid entertainment'". The Guardian (20 October, 2014).
4. ^ "Comic artists reimagine Beatrix Potter characters". BBC (22 September, 2016).
5. ^ "How the world changed around Sergio Aragones and Mad magazine". The Economist (20 November, 2017).
6. ^ "Comic art award launched at Lakes festival". BBC (15 October, 2017). Retrieved 4 June 2018.
7. ^ "In Review: Traces of the Great War by Joe Gordon". Down the Tubes (November 20, 2018).
8. ^ Gordon, Joe (20 November 2018). "In Review: Traces of the Great War". downthetubes.net. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
9. ^ "National Cartoonists Society Launches 2019 Festival". Newsarama (12 December, 2018).
10. ^ Johnston, Rich (13 December 2022). "Stephen L. Holland's UK Comics Laureate Term Extended Another Year". Bleeding Cool.
11. ^ "New comics laureate Charlie Adlard declares war on 'the graphic novel'". The Guardian (17 October, 2016).
12. ^ "Hannah Berry: New UK comics laureate to harness 'untapped' potential". BBC (12 October, 2018).
13. ^ Johnston, Rich (11 October 2020). "Retailer Stephen L Holland Announced As New UK Comics Laureate". Bleeding Cool.
14. ^ FREEMAN, JOHN (13 December 2022). "Stephen L. Holland Continues as Comics Laureate until October 2023". DownTheTubes.net.
15. ^ Johnston, Rich (1 October 2023). "Bobby Joseph Named The New UK Comics Laureate". Bleeding Cool.
16. ^ "Hunt Emerson Wins 2018 Sergio Aragonés International Award for Excellence in Comic Art at The Lakes". Bleeding Cool News (12 October 2018).
17. ^ Freeman, John. "Charlie Adlard wins Sergio Aragones International Award For Excellence In Comic Art". DownTheTubes (21 May 2019).
18. ^ Simons, Dean. "French cartoonist Boulet receives the Sergio Aragonés Award for Cartooning Excellence at LICAF 2021". Comics Beat (18 October 2021).
19. ^ Bruton, Richard. "Cartoonist Posy Simmonds Announced As 2022 Sergio Aragones Award Winner At Lakes International Comics Festival". Comicon.com (17 October 2022).
20. ^ VIZ - Winner of the Sergio Aragonés International Award for Excellence in Comic Art 2023. The Lakes International Comic Art Festival. YouTube. 29 September 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Comic festivals and alternative comics conventions

Asia|

* Comifuro (Indonesia)
* Comiket (Japan)
* COMITIA (Japan)
* Niigata Comic Market (Japan)

Europe|

* Amadora BD (Portugal)
* Angoulême International Comics Festival (France)
* Comic Con Ukraine (Ukraine)
* Etna Comics (Italy)
* Fumetto International Comics Festival (Switzerland)
* Helsinki Comics Festival (Finland)
* International Comics Festival (Serbia)
* Lakes International Comic Art Festival (United Kingdom)
* Lille Comics Festival (France)
* Lucca Comics & Games (Italy)
* Napoli Comicon (Italy)
* Thought Bubble Festival (United Kingdom)

North America|

| Canada|

* Expozine (Quebec)
* Toronto Comic Arts Festival (Ontario)

|

USA|

* Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (Ohio)
* Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (CAKE) (Illinois)
* Comic Arts Los Angeles (California)
* East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (Pennsylvania)
* FLUKE (Georgia)
* MoCCA Festival (New York)
* Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo (Ohio)
* Small Press Expo (Maryland)
* STAPLE! (Texas)

South America|

* Bienal de Quadrinhos de Curitiba (Brazil)
* Fantabaires (Argentina)
* Festival Internacional de Quadrinhos (Brazil)
* PerifaCon (Brazil)

Defunct|

* Alternative Press Expo (United States)
* CAPTION (United Kingdom)
* Comic Arts Brooklyn (United States)
* Comica (United Kingdom)
* Komikazen (Italy)
* Stumptown Comics Fest (United States)
* UK Web & Mini Comix Thing (United Kingdom)

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