On The Shelf: Birmingham Zine Festival - 12th-15th October

Free booklet, featuring a timetable of the events.

On the 13th of October (Saturday) I went to 'Birmingham Zine Festival'. It was held in the 'Sidewalk' bar in the gay village of Birmingham. It was my first ever Zine/arts festival, so I was both a bit nervous and excited! Luckily I've been quite a frequent visitor of Birmingham (being a Coventry girl myself) so didn't have any trouble at the train station, or when walking around the city.

Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of the actual event (but I do have some photos of some of my purchases below), but every available space was covered in zines, prints, fliers, etc. It wasn't too busy when I arrived, but it got quite busy later on! I was quite surprised at the age range of the people looking to buy things, and the variety of work itself was great too. I bought mostly small things (because they were cheaper!) and spent about £20-£30. It is worth noting that there were quite a few concertina zines, and there was a variety of printing techniques on show - from home printing to screen prints. I spoke to quite a few artists, and found it to be a very friendly atmosphere. While sitting outside the bar having my lunch, passers-by would look in through the windows, curious and puzzled, and some asked me what was going on.

In the afternoon I went to a talk called 'Make it then tell everyone' featuring a panel of five/six different artists/illustrators who described their working methods and other interesting arty things. I also stayed for the later version of the same talk, this time featuring a different panel. I found both talks very interesting, and thanked the second group for their time when they had their Q & A.