2nd Annual Chicago Zine Fest

(apologies on just hosting a press release, but here goes... )

2nd Annual Chicago Zine Fest To Take Place March 25 and 26, 2011 at Various Locations

On March 25th and March 26th, Chicago will host regional, national and international self-publishers for the 2nd Annual Chicago Zine Fest. An opening event, hosted by Columbia College’s Silver Tongue Reading Series, will kick off the fest on Friday afternoon from 2 - 4pm, at the Conaway Student Center, with a reading by Columbia student zine makers, followed by a Q&A discussion with popular zinesters, Al Burian (Burn Collector) and Aaron Cometbus (Cometbus). The festivities continue at 5pm with "Zines: The Next Generation," a youth zine reading at 826CHI from 5pm - 6pm, followed immediately by an adult zine reading from 6:30 - 8:30pm, featuring exhibitors from the festival. The night will be capped off with mingling and Karaoke at Quimby’s Bookstore at 9pm. The Zine Fest will continue Saturday from 10am - 5pm at Columbia College's Conaway Center where almost 200 zinesters will exhibit their publications and run workshops on various aspects of self-publishing. New this year will be a DIY Film Festival, curated by Gadabout Film Festival’s Eric Ayotte. All events are free and open to the public. Locations for all events are wheelchair acessible. Venues are listed below.

The Chicago Zine Fest is an independent event creating an outlet for small press and independent publishers to showcase their work. The fest's goal is to make DIY zine-making accessible, highlight the talents of self-published artists, and give independent artists a chance to interact and swap skills. Excited by the response from the zine community, Zine Fest Co-coordinator Leslie Perrine says, "We were amazed that tabling space sold out within three weeks, despite having doubled in size from last year. We had no idea the response would be this overwhelming." Jen Twigg, Exhibitor Coordinator, says the strength of the fest lies in its participants. "We are so excited to have zinester mainstays such as Liz Prince, John Porcellino and Cindy Crabb; but we also have many emerging zine-makers, like Jami Theophilos and Chris Landry, whose zines we know people will be excited to discover. We even have someone traveling from as far away as New Zealand to table at the fest!" she says.

The Chicago Zine Fest is sponsored by Columbia College’s Silver Tongue, Quimby's Bookstore, Renegade Handmade & Renegade Craft Fair, and 826CHI.

For more info: http://www.chicagozinefest.org

Friday, March 25, 2pm - 11pm
Columbia College Conaway Center 1104 S Wabash Ave. www.colum.edu
826CHI, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. 773-772-8108, www.826chi.org
Quimby’s Bookstore 1854 W. North Ave. 773-342-0910, www.quimbys.com

Saturday, March 26, 10am - 5pm
Columbia College Conaway Center 1104 S Wabash Ave. www.colum.edu