Wednesday 8 May 2013

Oxford Children's Comic Festival delight!

Last Saturday, Lorenzo and I joined a legion of children's comic creators and publishers and (most importantly) young readers and their families, for a day of unbridled celebration.  The first annual Oxford Children's Comic Festival took place at the Story Musuem and it was basically awesome from start to finish.





















The Phoenix team had managed to put together an absolutely jam-packed programme which included, in their own words (taken from their festival report, which can be read in full HERE):

"…comic-making masterclasses, drawing activities, convention tables, games, a wheel of awesomeness, comic pizza, Phoenix ice cream, storytelling, dirty great comic bombs, the navy, giant comics on walls, glittering bowler hats, burgers, crows, feather hunts, a name the festival competition, vikings, pirates, a wall of awesomeness, t-shirts galore, badges, stickers, dinosaur costumes, harmonicas, overly-excited Phoenix team members, and more awesomeness than you could shake a proverbial stick at!"

You can probably tell it was a FUN time.

As ever, the point of this festival was to give our audience their very own festival, and allow them to take control of the action.  Nowhere was this more apparent than behind the tables.  Kid comic creators, Zoom Rockman (top) and Jordan Vigay (bottom) showed the pros how it should be done with their own creations (including tshirts, badges and comics galore) and their very own fans.  Showcasing some truly excellent work, these two young talents are ones to watch for in the future.



















ITV were there filming as well, recording footage from this brilliant day. Click on the pic below to watch their news feature.















There are loads of brilliant web reports from the day with tons more photos, none of which we managed to capture on camera because we were having too much fun chatting to the children! But thankfully others were snapping and one that cannot be missed is the chance to see the GIANT COMIC OF AWESOMENESS unfold before your eyes.  CLICK HERE to read Neil Cameron's mighty blog. That communal creation really is something special. So, so funny!

A huge thanks to everyone at the Phoenix and the Story Museum for kick-starting this festival.  We cannot wait for next year!