The Lakes International Comic Art Festival have opened applications for exhibitors to feature in their Lakeside Comics Marketplace at the 11th Lakes International Comic Art Festival, taking place 29th September to 1st October 2023 in Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria.

This will be the Festival’s second year in beautiful Bowness, and the team behind the long-running event have revealed they will be creating a bespoke exhibitor area situated in the heart of their LICAF “village” on the Glebe recreation area, by the shores of Windermere. 

“The village will be home to superb event spaces, our Little LICAF family area and outdoor exhibitions, as well as food and drink concessions to cater to the needs of all our festival goers,” explains Comics Marketplace co-ordinator, Carole Tait.

“We’re delighted that this year’s exhibitor area will be the biggest we have hosted to date.”

The Lakeside Comics Marketplace will be housed in a large, fully-heated, easily accessible and well-equipped marquee, dedicated to our exhibitor creators, collectives, publishers and retailers. There will be more exhibitor tables available than ever before, increasing the breadth of creators we will be able to accommodate.

As in previous years, the Marketplace will be open to the public on Saturday 30th September and Sunday 1st October – however, for those who are going to be in town on Friday 29th September to set up and get to know the space, LICAF will be running a special offering of business seminars created specifically for independent creators looking at brand building, crowdfunding, fundraising and more. This will take place in the afternoon of Friday 29th September and will be free of charge to festival exhibitors. LICAF will simply ask that you register your interest to attend.

How to Apply

• The cost of a full table in the 2023 Lakeside Comics Marketplace will be £95. If you would like to join us at this year’s festival, please complete the application form, available here on the LICAF web site as a Word document, and return it to carole@comicartfestival.com to arrive no later than Friday 24th February 2023, 5.00pm

• The LICAF Lakeside Comics Marketplace Exhibitor Terms and and Conditions are also published on the Festival web site here, as a PDF download

The Festival cautions that we won’t be able to accommodate all applicants. Successful applicants will be informed no later than Friday 3rd March 2023

Festival Links

• The Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2023 will take place in various location in Bowness-on-Windermere from 29th September to 1st October 2023. The Festival is online at: www.comicartfestival.com | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Podcast

• Want to receive news about the Lakes International Comic Art Festival? Then sign up for their newsletter now

• Check out the LITTLE LICAF Facebook Page here and the dedicated LITTLE LICAF Instagram here

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.

Categories: British Comics, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events

Tags: Bowness-on-Windermere, Carole Tait, downthetubes News, Events Comics, Lakes International Comic Art Festival, Lakeside Comics Marketplace