♥ Zine festival 2026

Last Saturday, I went to the fifth annual local comic and zine festival with my partner and friends! We walked to the art gallery where it was being held (not fun, it was very hot, bad idea) and then entered into a world of colorful publications... My city has a pretty awesome zine scene, it must be said. Though it's no longer there now, my favorite neighborhood coffee shop used to have a big zine stand where people could leave zines with their payment information so customers could buy them while at the cafe. I LOVED looking through them, especially the ones that had to do with Florida wildlife. So needless to say I very much enjoy going to the zine fest when it rolls around in summer!

I think I will maybe post some more about the zines once I've sat down long enough to give each individual one my full attention, but for now I'll give you a rundown of this massive pile...I won't list every creator because I don't have all their socials, but they're linked where possible. Two you should definitely check out are WolfPitMachine (their zines are marked here as WPM) and my dear friend Jadrien (Nuggeccino) ♥ And now...

• Ditch Social Media, Make a Personal Site - WPM zine about making a personal site on neocities or similar
• Unfunny - WPM perzine about being told you're funny, but not feeling funny
• Luxury Ball - a perzine about the artist's six favorite pokemon, in their favorite pokeball
• Crush - a WPM perzine about crushes and aromanticism (I think)
• Meet the Artist - what it says on the tin, from a local fine arts student
• Cowboy Funnies - classic cartoon-style cowboy comics from David Helton. Isn't his hand lettering gorgeous?
• You're not supposed to talk about self-harming - a perzine about how self harm addictions are difficult to discuss with others and how lonely they can make you feel. this really spoke to me as someone who has struggled deeply with SH in the past. Written by Audrey McKenzie
• Budget Gothic - WPM zine about how to indulge in goth subculture on a budget!
• 1 Year of Asking Would You Kick Him for $5 - a year of results from WPM asking the public a simple question: would you kick this guy for five bucks? (I've voted yes two years in a row)
• Haunted - a WPM zine full of haunted media recommendations
• Did You or Someone You Know Draw This Creatura? - Jadrien made this zine based on a really cute piece of bar graffiti she saw, and wrote about how much it meant to her to see people draw publicly for others to enjoy. (The person who drew it, Livvwuff, came to the zine fest, randomly saw this on the zine swap table, and reached out to her via email!!!!!)
• Get a Tattoo - incredibly cool zine that folds outward like a paper fortune teller, about the process of getting and wanting tattoos. Written by Audrey McKenzie
• How to be an Addams - minizine encouraging you to live like the Addams family--full of darkness, danger, love, and curiosity!
• Good Time Tigers: A Tiger for Every Occasion - a zine filled with tiger art
• A DELIGHTFUL $1 60-second commission I got from an artist, my prompt for her was "vampire"
• A very cute shark sticker for my husband

• My Cat Named Moose - what it says on the tin. a perzine about the artist's beloved moose!
• A dope dragon sticker I needed
• All the Cats We Know - illustrated by Amanda Phelps and written by Brockton Moore, who make little portraits and bios for their friends' cats
• My Vow to be More Authentic with My Art - I haven't read this one yet, but it looks very promising ♥
• Bastard Hour - zine and stickers dedicated to the artist's bastard kitty, Bruiser
• Freeze Dry - an art zine featuring ice pokemon by Kyon Reyes-Lebron
• Cats of my Life - perzines looking back on warm memories of cats that have since passed away, by David Helton
• Flipside Comics #2 - a gorgeous and informational zine all about blues music by David Helton. the art and hand lettering in this is insanely clean, this guy is a master of his craft

• Gnarf #1 - a lovable alien comes to earth and is adopted by a bunch of punks who teach him all about the music scene, by Cam Lopez. Probably my favorite thing I got from the fest! There's also a Neocities page where you can read all the comics :]
• Fish Bowl - a look back on various places the artist, a punk/metal music journalist (Kyon Reyes-Lebron), has lived and worked
• "Let's take ibuprofen together" Optimus Prime sticker - had to buy it for my Transformers friend! (by Googsly)
• Bite Me sticker - this one's going straight on the front of my new diary when i buy it (by Googsly)
• Punk is Undead - punk skeleton art from Kyon Reyes-Lebron
• Carpe Diem - one of my favorite presentations from the fest. A zine cut and painted like fish, wrapped in newspaper, depicting a comic about fish who daydream of being human
• Mother Library comics - Three chapters of an indie comic about a frog wizard who ventures into the magical Mother Library, by Adriana Higgs

• Magic Fever - this one will need its own post for sure, maybe my fav zine we bought. an insanely awesome magic the gathering zine with reimagined card art, usable goblin tokens, relatable comics, Dennis Reynolds playing mtg, and more
• What's Goth? - a primer on goth subculture by Googsly
• Manual Monsters Mini V - I got this one as a bonus zine! It's all about lil monsters and has some monster stickers in a baggie inside
• Art Pains - a WPM zine about the struggles of creating art
• Garf notepad. Someone was giving out goodies to festival attendees and this was what I got! My husband was given a Miku charm
• I Remember You! - a zine about people who the artist has lost touch with over the years

...and that's all of them for this year, whew! What do you think? Pretty good haul, right? It was an honor to support the artists in my area and read all about their hopes, dreams, passions, jokes, and art projects. I even printed a bunch of my pearzines to trade and leave out for others to take. Overall, we had a great time. I love my city and particularly my neighborhood. There's always something amazing going on around us. Can't wait to seek out more local zines for my collection and attend the fest again next year!!