Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2017 at various venues

Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor
Artist Oliver East.

Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2017 at Brewery Arts, Kendal and Sedbergh 13 — 15 October 2017 Entrance is free — Visit now

It’s the only one of its kind in the UK, and 2017 marks the fifth year for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. Taking place over a weekend, and taking over the Cumbrian market town of Kendal, LICAF is aimed at both fans and creators of comic art and graphic novels.

There’s loads on – from the Quick On The Draw gala opening event on Friday night to Sunday’s Big Comic Draw, hosted by Titan Comics’ Chris Thompson and featuring live drawing from Charlie Adlard, Jason Latour, Sean Phillips and Christian Ward. And the festival caters for all ages – this time round sees a special side programme of free events aimed at families (including, excitingly, Moomins).

One event that caught the beady eye of the Literature Editor is Manchester’s own Oliver East putting in an appearance. Like us, he loves a good story and we’ve popped him on your radar before – when he retraced the footsteps of the legendary elephant Maharajah, walking 200 miles from Edinburgh to Belle Vue Zoo, turning it into a book and a film co-directed by our author friend and live literature scene regular Simon Sylvester.

This time, the ‘walking comic artist’ has been inspired by the Lancaster Canal, made impassable in the 60s when the M6 was built, leaving weird pockets of water dotted about and bridges randomly high and dry in the middle of fields. Oliver is launching his new book The Lanky on Sunday 1t 12.30 in the Comics Clock Tower with a signing, followed by a derive at 3.30pm to explore the canal landscapes around Kendal, hear more about the stories in The Lanky and take part in a drawing masterclass – which, if we could draw, we’d be well up for. But we can’t, so we’ll make do with listening to the stories.

 

Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2017 at Brewery Arts, Kendal and Sedbergh 13 — 15 October 2017 Entrance is free Visit now

Where to go near Lakes International Comic Art Festival 2017 at various venues

Comida
Kendal and Sedbergh
Restaurant
Comida

Spanish inspired restaurant serves up Iberian classic dishes such as Spanish Omelette and Chorizo, plus many intriguing wines.

Cross Lane Projects, Kendal, Cumbria. Art gallery, artist studios and exhibition space
Kendal and Sedbergh
Gallery
Cross Lane Projects

Founded by artists Rebecca Scott and Mark Woods, Cross Lane Projects brings new contemporary art to Cumbria and is situated in a former Kendal Mint Cake factory in central Kendal.

Fell Bar Brewery
Kendal and Sedbergh
Bar or Pub
Fell Bar Brewery

Fell Bar is an outlet for the Fell Brewery and a great independent venue in itself, with a broad range of connoisseur-level craft beers.

Cumbria
Gallery
Abbot Hall Art Gallery

Built in 1759 as a private home, today the Gade I listed Abbot Hall Art Gallery is one of the best centres for visual art in Cumbria.

The Joshua Tree
Kendal and Sedbergh
Restaurant
The Joshua Tree

The Joshua Tree is a family-run, homely bistro and restaurant housed in a sixteenth century building, specialising in coffee and exquisite fish and meat dishes.

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