Past Festival Round-Ups

Thought Bubble Festival is a week long celebration of comics held across Yorkshire, here is a round-up of some recently years’ festivals!

 Thought Bubble Festival 2023 - Roundup!

Our 2023 Festival Week was CRAMMED with excellent comic focused events. First, we decorated independent businesses in Leeds with an art trail of 16 of our past festival images! We had ND Stevenson and Molly Knox Ostertag in conversation as part of Creative Networks at a packed out Leeds Arts University. Vice Press screened the iconic Batman ‘89 in Leeds AND Harrogate, with a beautiful exclusive art print to go with it. Leeds Central Library hosted our annual Rainbow Age Book Club this year with a ‘Queer Comix Forever’ talk, hosted by the excellent Jack Fallows. The incredible Tula Lotay and Becky Cloonan wowed us with live painting at the DSTLRY Launch Party. Our friends Travelling Man donated heaps of LGBTQ+ comics to Leeds Libraries. We brought Dapo Adeola to Yorkshire to run fun children’s workshops in Headingley Library! We had an excellent time sketching with pals at Pints and Pencils. And FINALLY, we put our beautiful past festival images into the windows of 15 independent businesses around Leeds, to create a comic art trail. Phew.

Thought Bubble Festival 2023 was proudly sponsored by LeedsBID. Photo credits to Andrew Benge, Sarah Oglesby and Wisdom Makubile.

 Thought Bubble Festival 2022 - Roundup!

Thought Bubble Festival 2022 was packed full of comics-focused events, from Masterclasses to Socials, Workshops to Exhibitions. We brought huge names into Yorkshire, like Gail Simone’s In Conversation evening at Leeds Arts University, and Ram V whose Masterclass at The Leeds Library was packed with folk taking notes of wisdom. CJ Reay of Black Lodge Press joined us for our Rainbow Age Book Club, and discussed their work and influences in their Art as Agitation talk, and Hamish Steele ran a sold-out storytelling workshop in the beautiful Drawing Room at Leeds Central Library! Tula Lotay graced The Corn Exchange with her art exhibition, and Mondo took over Belgrave Music Hall with music, signings and records, while Jock treated us all to a live painting of Judge Dredd. With the help of Diamond UK we gave away hundreds of comic books in local libraries, we also had the amazing JAKe running drawing workshops for kids in Bradford and Emily Ormerod teaching Leeds kids how to draw strange creatures! There was loads, loads more - the whole festival was a joy, and we can’t wait to do it again in 2023.

Thought Bubble Festival 2022 was proudly sponsored by LeedsBID. Photo credits to Andrew Benge and Wisdom Makubile.