Thought Bubble, the UK’s largest comic art festival has announced the dates for their 2020 festival and comic con, which after a hugely successful move in 2019, will return to Harrogate Convention Centre.
Taking place from 9th to 15th November 2020, the award-winning festival will include an eclectic series of events, workshops, exhibitions and installations across Yorkshire. The festival will culminate in a huge comic con at the Harrogate Convention Centre on 14th and 15th, where they will host over 450+ of the best comic artists, writers, publishers and retailers alongside more than 70 special guests from across the world.
Alongside the dates for this year’s event, Thought Bubble have shared a glimpse into this year’s line-up of special guests to get fans excited. This first announcement includes acclaimed Eisner Award winning American author & comic writer Joe Hill, who has created the hotly anticipated ‘Locke & Key’ series due to hit Netflix in February as well as Canadian artist & writer Chip Zdarsky, who has worked on multiple Spiderman projects as well as Daredevil, Howard The Duck and Jughead for Archie Comics.
Joining them will be G Willow Wilson, the Cairo based writer who created Marvel’s first Muslim character to headline a comic book with her acclaimed ‘Ms Marvel’ series and acclaimed American comic book creator Becky Cloonan, with many more to be announced.
After winning the prestigious Bob Clampett humanitarian award at the world famous San Diego Comic-Con last year, Thought Bubble have remained committed to expanding the educational, charitable and outreach work undertaken each year, alongside usual activities the festival has launched the first part of a huge Artist Fair Pay project and will be increasing its offer of activities across Yorkshire. For the first time Thought Bubble will host masterclasses from some of its internationally acclaimed guests – each focusing on disciplines closely tied to the medium of Comics and how they can be used as a gateway to other careers.
Founded by acclaimed comic artist Lisa Wood (aka Tula Lotay) in 2007, Thought Bubble initially took place in the basement of Leeds Town Hall. Over the years the festival has grown massively and thanks to an unerring focus on comic art and a desire to push the industry to create more inclusive and diverse spaces, they have become one of the most important events for artists, writers and fans all across the world.
After over a decade in their beloved Leeds, in 2019 Thought Bubble took the decision to relocate their comic con to the massive Harrogate Convention Centre, just North of their West Yorkshire home, the move proved to be a resounding success with an estimated footfall of 15,000 visitors across the weekend alone for one their biggest festivals yet.
Lisa Wood ,Thought Bubble Festival Director:
Of the 13 editions of Thought Bubble we’ve presented, last year’s event, our first in Harrogate, was by far our best to date! We’ve received so much support and good will from the audiences, local businesses and the wider comics industry – Harrogate truly feels like home and we’re thrilled to be returning in November . We are also incredibly excited about our outreach programmes as well as the launch of our fair pay for artists platform and its expansion further into 2020. I feel there is no other festival in the UK that focuses on the amazing educational possibilities that come from the medium of comics and we are very excited at the opportunity to take this to the next level and to reach more people than ever this year.
Paula Lorimer, director of Harrogate Convention Centre, said:
It was fantastic to see thousands of comic fans and artists in Harrogate last year, so I’m over the moon to confirm the event is returning this year.
I’m encouraged because it’s not just Harrogate Convention Centre which has embraced the event, but the whole town is getting on board. I know the Mercer Gallery also has some exciting plans to expand on what they did last year.
Everything is looking good for a brilliant 2020 for Thought Bubble.
