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True Believers Comic Festival will not be back in 2022

By John Freeman on August 11, 2021

The team behind the much-loved True Believers Comic Festival, usually held in Cheltenham, have announced the planned return of the event in February will not now go ahead, responding to concerns about the continuing impact of COVID-19 into 2022.

“Unfortunately, after careful consideration, we have decided that we will not be able to put on True Believers Comic Festival in 2022, as originally planned,” co-organiser Stuart Mulrain announced in a recent statement.

“We’re gutted to have to miss another year of doing the event, but with so many unknown factors between now and February, we’ve decided that it would be best, for the longevity of doing the event, to miss another year.

Stuart Mulrain, of True Believers Comic Festival — *Stuart Mulrain*

“Although pretty much all restrictions have been lifted at the moment, we don’t want to risk people’s health by packing them into a function room for the event,” he continued, “when there is a risk the virus could make a resurgence through the winter. We also wouldn’t be able to run the event at a reduced capacity, without raising the price of tables and tickets to an unreasonable amount, so we can cover our costs.

“We’ve always strived to bring you the best possible event that we can, but with so many unknown factors between now and February, there is no feasible way we can do that, without the risk of bringing you a subpar Troobs experience.

“We love doing the event, and seeing you all there and making it the amazing community experience that it is for us, and hopefully for you as well.

“It is our aim to return in 2023, but as with 2022, we can’t make a full commitment to that, until we have a better understanding of where the world will be at that time.”

If things get back to some sort of normality, there is some hopeful news – the team will look into delivering some Troobs related events in 2022, as well as continuing to run their weekly popular Draw Something Sunday art threads on their Facebook page.

“I hope you can understand our position on this and thank you for your continued support of Troobs,” says Stuart, “and, although Troobs is still on hold, the small press/indie comic scene continues to go on, so please continue to support the creators you love, through their websites, social media and beyond!”

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.