This year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival, taking place in Kendal, Cumbria, over the weekend of 2nd – 4th October 2026 looks to be shaping up nicely, with a fantastic array of some of the best comics creators from around the world.
LICAF prides itself on representing the whole spectrum of comics appealing to the widest tastes of existing and new fans alike, and with top end talent from the worlds of both adventure and humour comics involved, you might just want to get your ticket booked now.
Alongside Festival regulars such as Charlie Adlard, Dagsson, Bill Morrison, Sean Phillips, Pieter De Poortere, and Keli and Michael Lark, announced guests so far include Bill Sienkiewicz, who has provided this year’s Festival poster; plus, in alphabetical order, Serge Bloch, Gemma Correll, Mike Derderian, Colleen Doran, Emad Hajjaj, Khaled Jarada, David Leach and Chrissy Williams – with more yet to be announced.
The event also sees the welcome return of Steve, Luke and Joe McGarry, a family of inventive talent who have often attended this annual gathering of comic creators from around the globe.
This year will, of course, see return of the Comics Marketplace – the lineup of publishers and creators featured not yet announced, plus exhibitions across the Cumbrian town, plus workshop events, and the ever popular Windows Trail.
The Festival returns to Kendal after three years of its annual event takiung place in Biowness-on-Windermere. Venues will include the Abbot Hall Gallery, The Brewery Arts Centre, the Town Hall, and Westmorland Campus.
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival is supported by the Arts Council, Westmorland & Furness Council, Kendal BID, Kendal Town Council, and the Adlard Family Foundation.
• Tickets for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2026 are available now
• The Lakes International Comic Art Festival is online at ComicArtFestival.com | licaf.co.uk | Follow LICAF on Bluesky | Facebook | Instagram
Festival Guest Spotlight
Colleen Doran
Colleen Doran is a New York Times bestselling cartoonist. She was an early contributor to The Sandman, and she also adapted the short stories Troll Bridge, Snow Glass Apples, and Chivalry, winning two Eisners, The Bram Stoker, Locus, and Ringo Awards, and nominations for Best Penciler/Inker Eisners, Reubens, the Excelsior, Rondo, and Tripwire Awards. She is currently a nominee for the Will Eisner Hall of Fame.
Other works include American Gods, Norse Mythology and the adaptation of Good Omens with Terry Pratchett, at that time, the most successful comics crowdfund in Kickstarter history at over $3.1 million.
She taught Syrian refugees for the US Embassy and the Athens, Greece National Library, and contributed to Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds to benefit Ukrainian refugees. The project is an Eisner winner.
She’s illustrated works by Alan Moore, Margaret Atwood, Anne Rice, J Michael Straczynski, Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, Amazing Fantastic Incredible Stan Lee, and graphic novels for The Doors, Blondie, Melissa Etheridge, and Tori Amos. In Balmain Dreams 10R, she created an original story for the French fashion house Balmain for designer Oliver Rousteing.
She created the space opera graphic novel series A Distant Soil at age twelve, and she is working on the final instalment.
Ciolleen has had multiple solo shows at the Society of Illustrators, The Museum of Cartoon Art, and the San Diego Comic Con Museum. She’s also exhibited at shows in Milan, Rome, Portugal, and Germany.
Other credits include Action Comics, Conan, Detective Comics, Amazing Spider-Man, Captain America, Guardians of the Galaxy, Jessica Jones for Netflix, Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Vampire Diaries, and Wonder Woman.
Emad Hajjaj
Emad Hajjaj is a Jordanian cartoonist well known as Abu Mahjoob, who was imprisoned in August 2020, for five days, after one of his political cartoons was published. He is one of the most famous cartoonists in the Arab world and has extensive experience in many Arabic and international newspapers and websites. He has published many books, most notably his cartoon collection, Al-Mahjoob, in three parts.
Emad has received many awards and is considered as one of the pioneering digital painters in the Arabic region. He has produced animated films and many satirical content & comics for social networking platforms. He was the head of Society of Cartoonists in Jordan and is a member of several cartoon societies, and works currently for Alaraby Aljadeed newspaper.
Bill Sienkiewicz
The multi-Eisner Award-winning and Emmy Award-nominated artist Bill Sienkiewicz is most noted for Marvel’s Elektra: Assassin, Moon Knight, and New Mutants – inspiring FX’s Legion and Disney’s New Mutants – and his acclaimed graphic novel Stray Toasters.
He earned two Emmy nominations for his work on the animated series Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Sienkiewicz has also contributed on-set and promotional artwork for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, The Batman, Dune: Part One, Dune: Part Two, Moon Knight series, 2018 Halloween remake, Logan, The Grinch, The Green Mile, and Unforgiven. In 2025, his work spent a month aboard the International Space Station.
Chrissy Williams
Chrissy Williams is an award-winning comic book writer, poet, and editor based in the UK, whose writing has been featured on BBC radio and television. Her debut comic was Golden Rage, featuring art by Lauren Knight, published by Image Comics, and the new miniseries Golden Rage: Mother Knows Best, was collected last year.
She co-edited Over the Line: An Introduction to Poetry Comics (Sidekick Books) with Tom Humberstone, about which Alan Moore said “I really can’t recommend this venture highly enough”.
• Tickets for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2026 are available now
• The Lakes International Comic Art Festival is online at ComicArtFestival.com | licaf.co.uk | Follow LICAF on Bluesky | Facebook | Instagram
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as 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.
Categories: British Comics, Comic Art, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events
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