This year, in partnership with the Charlotte International Arts Festival (CIAF), the Fall 2024 edition of Queen City Zine Fest will take place September 28 as part of the festival’s continuing slate of programming.
Since its first presentation took place in September 2018 at C3 Lab, The Queen City Zine Fest has been a biannual celebration of creativity in the Charlotte community, providing a place for independent magazines to be on display, featuring artists, cartoonists, journalists and everything in between.
As expressed by the creators of QCZF on the fest’s website;
“Queen City Zine Fest celebrates self-published zines, comics, illustrations, chapbooks, small press editions, and other self-published printed matter. We desire to foster a community of independent publishers and those that are passionate about publishing. Our goal is to showcase DIY work and provide a platform for education and the exchange of ideas.
“We are committed to organizing events that do not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment, including homophobia, racism, sexism, transphobia, ageism, xenophobia, ableism, etc. In addition, we strive to create a safer space for marginalized communities.”
Over the years in its operation, QCZF has popped up in multiple locations, including Davidson College, Goodyear Arts and in the Rock Hill area, taking place both in spring and fall.
Even when it hasn’t been possible, the organizers have maintained support of its community. When the Spring edition had to be canceled in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, each accepted entry was still shown support on QCZF’s social media, where over the course of the next few months mini-bios were made of the publishers, displaying their work and providing links to show support for them during the months that followed.
The Queen City Zine Fest would resurface nearly a year and a half later, in 2021, and has been running strong since.
For the Fall 2024 edition, QCZF will be in the center of CIAF activities, taking over the Knight Theater lobby from 11am to 5pm on September 28. While submissions are closed off until the first gathering of 2025, the event is free to attend and is all ages, so anyone that is curious about independent Carolina creators or how they might become one can come for a bit of fun and inspiration during the final weekend of CIAF.
For more details on Queen City Zine Fest visit their website or check out social media.