Held annually sometime in the Fall, the Richmond Zine Fest once again is back in the Gay Community Center, which I think is the best place for it, if it is not going to be held on the campus of one of Richmond's colleges. There is a lot of foot traffic for the center's thrift store, plenty of parking, and it's not too far from the interstate while still being bikeable from the main part of Richmond.
We have gone to the past three shows, and we even got engaged after one of them, so the Zine Fest has a lot of good memories for both of us. The exhibitors range wildly from anarchists who will give you DIY pamphlets on how to fight the system to personal zines to a few mini-comics vendors. There is usually something for just about any taste, and anyone who has gone in past years will find quite a few familiar faces in the tabling crowd.
Here are a few of the tables I strongly recommend you visit if you go:
Alex Wrekk writes the long-running zine Brainscan and is also involved in other projects. Her zine is probably one of the best-known personal zines still ongoing and is definitely worth getting, especially if you are new to the idea of zines.
I've been a fan of the I Love Bad Movies zine since the first issue. I'm really sad that I won't be around to pick up issue four, which I am betting will be at the show. I Love Bad Movies is a fan zine based upon the love of cinematic turds and cult classics, many of which are VHS only. Movie buffs need their zine.
Click Clack Distro is run by Richmond Zine Fest co-organizer and friend Nicole Harris. Nicole's distro has a wide range of zines, from personal to self-hlp to DIY to special interest topics. You are bound to find something you like at her table, and sampling a few zines from her would be a good way to see if you like the genre.
AdHouse Books is making their Richmond Zine Fest debut. Run by Chris Pitzer, this small publisher has comics of all kinds. Chris has promised to bring a bunch of different things and offer them at zine-like prices. Anyone who likes comics needs to stop by and see what he's up to! Make sure you let Chris talk you into at least one book. His taste is quite good, and he'll usually steer you to something you'll like.
Parcell Press is kind of a bridge between the zine-heavy distro like Click Clack and the comics-heavy stylings of AdHouse. They have a wide variety of upscale zines and comics, making them a bit like the Drawn and Quarterly of the mini-comics set.
The Richmond Zine Fest is free and open from 11am to 6pm on Saturday, October 8th. Check it out!
