The Lakes International Comic Art Festival has announced its workshops program for this year’s annual Festival, taking place in Kendal, Cumbria, over the weekend of 2nd – 4th October.
You can book tickets here through TryBooking: do note, there are only limited spaces, so early sign up is advised.
This year’s Lakes International Comic Art Festival, offering a wide range of comic creator panels, a Comics Marketplace, workshops, exhibitions, international rights market, and more.
The venue for all workshops is Kendal College Westmorland Campus, Market Place, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 4TN, in the centre of the town, close to other prime Festival locations.
Saturday 3rd October 2026
Printed Cinema Comics with Mike Derderian
10.00am – 11.30am, Saturday 3rd October 2026
Join Mike V Derderian a.k.a. Sardine, a professional comic artist from Jordan, for a dynamic talk and hands on workshop demonstrating the links between comics panels and the big screen. You’ll be guided through writing and drawing your own comic strip in this 90 minutes session. No experience necessary.
Age 12+ | Supported by the British Council | £10, £8 concessions | Capacity 15
Create your own Manga characters
Noon – 1.00pm, Saturday 3rd October 2026
Learn from professional Manga artist Sonia Leong as she teaches you how to create characters with a stylish Manga/Anime aesthetic! Understand how to build up faces from easy shapes and ratios, design sparkly eyes and spiky hair, try different angles and poses and get body proportions mapped out correctly. This workshop will help you get up to speed on all the basics and more.
Recommended for 9-12 year olds | £10, £8 concessions | Capacity 20
Sketching your Surroundings Workshop with Leonie Bischoff
2.00 – 3.30pm, Saturday 3rd October 2026
Join Leonie Bischoff from Belgium in this fun and inspiring workshop where you will learn how to document your surroundings through guided sketching exercises. If you’re interested in taking your sketching skills onto another level then this is one for you. No previous experience necessary.
15+ | £10, £8 concessions | Capacity 15 | In partnership with WBI & CBBD
Poetry Comics Workshop
4.00 – 5.30pm, Saturday 3rd October 2026
What happens when you mix poetry with comics? Find out in this exciting 90 minute workshop! You will see some fun examples and start making your own poetry comics, with poet and comic book writer Chrissy Williams. All materials provided.
Ideal for all ages from 7+ | £10, £8 concessions | Capacity 15
You can book tickets here through TryBooking: do note, there are only limited spaces, so early sign up is advised.
Sunday 4th October
Create a Creature with Felt Mistress
10.00 – 12.30pm, Sunday 4th October 2026
Louise aka Felt Mistress will guide you through the process of making your own sewn felt creation. No previous sewing skills needed and all materials will be supplied. Everyone will go home with new skills and a new felt friend.
Suitable for adults and children 8 +
£15 including materials, £10 concessions | Capacity 15
Build Your Own Beast: Illustrating and Storytelling for Table Top Role Playing Games with Dan Locke and David Blandy
1.00 – 3.00pm, Sunday 4th October 2026
This playful drop-in, all ages and abilities workshop will engage participants in character design illustration through a series of tasks. Using elements of game play, creative writing and drawing each participant will design a unique Dungeons and Dragons style character sheet. This activity will be supported by Daniel Locke, an award wining graphic novelist and role playing game artist and David Blandy an award winning role play designer.
Supported by ACE | £10, £8 concessions | Capacity 20
You can book tickets here through TryBooking: do note, there are only limited spaces, so early sign up is advised.
Terms and Conditions: For information about these events, please contact LICAF, the “Event Organiser”. If the event is cancelled for any reason by the organiser, a full refund will be issued. No refunds will be issued for any other reason.
The full Festival guest line-up so far features on the LICAF website, and tickets can be bought here
• Tickets for the opening night, The Clash of the Toon Titans – Asterix vs Tintin: The Rematch, sold separately to Festival Passes, are available here
• The Lakes International Comic Arts Festival (LICAF) will take place in Kendal from Friday 2nd – Sunday 4th October 2026
Further details on specific panel times, exhibition hours, and festival ticketing will be announced in the coming weeks. For more information, visit licaf.co.uk
Guests at LICAF 2026 in alphabetical order included in alphabetical order, Charlie Adlard, Leonie Bischoff, Serge Bloch, Kate Charlesworth, Gemma Correll, Dagsson, Mike Derderian, Colleen Doran, Louise Evans aka Feltmistress, ILYA, Khaled Jarada, Emad Hajjaj, Luke Healy, Keli Lark, Michael Lark, David Leach, Sonia Leong, Joanna Lorho, David Lumsden, Marcos Martin, Joe McGarry, Luke McGarry, Steve McGarry, Metaphrog, Mobidic, Francisco de la Mora, Bill Morrison, Jacob Phillips, Sean Phillips, Nicolas Pitz, Gemma Plum, Pieter de Poortere, Quindrie Press, Frank Quitely, Bill Sienkiewicz, Nina Six, Zara Slattery, Faye Stacey, Byan Talbot, Mary Talbot, Muntsa Vicente, the team from VIZ comic, and Chrissy Williams. More to come!
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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.
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