Thought Bubble, Yorkshire’s award-winning comic art convention, has announced the programme for this year’s festival – a week of films, workshops, talks and more taking place in Harrogate, Leeds and across Yorkshire.
The festival takes place between 11-17th of November, with the comic convention opening its doors at Harrogate Convention Centre on the 16th.
This year’s festival features the debut exhibition of Secrets of the Majestic, a new anthology of short comics from a range of indie creators edited by Chris Mole and Gary Moloney, celebrating the infamous Majestic hotel toilets, as well as an exhibition of graphic novelist Tim Bird’s Adrift On A Painted Sea, alongside paintings by his mother, Sue Bird.
Elsewhere, editor-in chief of Tripwire magazine Joel Meadows will be exhibiting photographs from his new book Face to Face: Creative Portraits which collects his work from over thirty years documenting the worlds of comics, TV and film whilst two free library exhibitions of Make Mine Manga are open to anyone curious about Japanese manga, as well as avid fans.
Thought Bubble Festival 2024 will feature talks including Banned Books with The Bookish Type, in which publisher and librarian Harry-Anne and guests explore the past and present of book bans; a double signing event with comic creators E. M. Carroll and Emma Ríos at Gosh Comics, as well as Rainbow Age with Theo Parish which sees the artist and writer discussing their graphic novel Homebody and the journey it took them on.
Making a welcome return to the festival are the social drawing jam Pints and Pencils, academic conference The Comics Forum and this year’s Vice Press x Thought Bubble collaboration which celebrates the 40th anniversary of James Cameron’s The Terminator with a new, officially licenced film poster by Florey as well as exclusive variants available only at a special screening at Everyman Harrogate.
In partnership with The Lakes Comic Art Festival and the British Council, Thought Bubble Festival are proud to be hosting ‘Enter the Mulberry Tree and Fly Free’, an exhibition of work by 12 Palestinian comic creators, the first of its kind outside the Middle East and North Africa. Curated by writer and journalist George Khoury, based in Lebanon and a leading expert on Arab comics, ‘Enter the Mulberry Tree and Fly Free’ will explore personal identity and geopolitics as the artists present remarkable perspectives on Palestine. The exhibition will be held at Left Bank Leeds.
As well as detailing the festival events, with more to be announced, Thought Bubble have also completed this year’s comic convention guest line-up with over thirty new names announced including Charlie Adlard, Nick Brokenshire, Kristyna Baczynski, Becky Cloonan and Dani.
Taking place over the final two days of the festival, Thought Bubble Comic Convention’s tickets are on sale now, with ticket options for families and students, while under 12s, carers and over 65s tickets remain totally free. Tickets give access to all events within the comic convention weekend; panels, workshops, guest signings, as well as the four huge halls of exhibitors.
After achieving their best ever attendance at Harrogate in 2023, the team at Thought Bubble are anticipating a sell-out event in 2024 and encourage fans to get their tickets soon.
Thought Bubble Comic Convention 2024 tickets are on sale now and festival events announced so far can be found here
Thought Bubble Director Martha Julian said: “We’re so thrilled to announce this year’s festival programme. Events will be taking place across the whole of Yorkshire, with more to be announced in the coming weeks. There’ll be something for everyone; from workshops to exhibitions, film screenings, guest talks, signings and tons more. The festival week and convention are a year in the making. We have so much fun pulling it together and we can’t wait to see you all in November.”
Julie Tait, Lakes International Comic Arts Festival Director, said of the Enter The Mulberry Tree exhibition: “The clamour of the past decades has tended to obscure the everyday lives and unique creativity of Palestinian comic artists, and ‘Enter the Mulberry Tree and Fly Free’ seeks to reveal these unheard voices and experiences through an extraordinary installation featuring images and video material. We are very happy to be bringing this beautiful exhibition to Left Bank Leeds.”
Enter The Mulberry Tree and Fly Free will be at The Lakes International Comic Arts Festival from 26-30 September, and at Left Bank Leeds from 6-28 November, with a launch event on Wednesday 13 November
