Gainesville Zine Fest is a free three day comics and art event happening the weekend of March 7-9. The Sequential Artists Workshop (SAW) and the Civic Media Center (CMC) are partnering to put on an inclusive, accessible, art-filled weekend at both locations.
This will be SAW’s first ever zine festival. SAW was established in 2011 by indie cartoonist Tom Hart as a nonprofit school for comics and visual storytelling. They host Draw Jams every first Saturday of the month, comic readings at Word of Mouth shows, and host both in-person and online workshops for how to make your own comics.
The CMC has hosted tabling events in the past, but we are so excited to host the incredible organization Mapping Trans Joy for a collaborative zine making and oral history presentation on Friday from 5-7pm at the CMC at 433 S Main St. Masks are required indoors. We encourage a majority of trans audience members and participants.
On Saturday, SAW will be hosting Panel Palooza from 12-6pm at 1314 S Main Street. The itinerary is stacked: Multiple workshops on how to make comics and flip-o-ramas, a panel on comics and social justice featuring scholars and working graphic novelists, and a comic reading by the revered Grovertoons, author of Hamburglar and Jake Spooky. There will be plenty of zine tablers selling their art.
On Sunday, there will be folks slinging zines and art from 12-6pm at the CMC. There will be variation on the tablers; there is no overlap between Saturday and Sunday. Follow @comicsworkshop, or sign up for the SAW Local newsletter at sequentialartistsworkshop.org to get updates, rain plans, fun news, and more.