Lakes International Comic Art Festival returns home to Kendal

Kendal has welcomed back one of its most colourful events. The Lakes International Comic Art Festival returned to the town from 2 to 4 October 2026, with the Brewery Arts Centre at its heart.

The festival was founded in 2013 by Julie Tait, who lives in Kendal, and grew from an idea she shared with her son Finn. The first edition ran from 18 to 20 October 2013, with the Brewery Arts Centre and Kendal College as founding partners and comics creators Bryan and Mary Talbot and Sean Phillips among its founding patrons.

Kendal hosted the festival until 2021, after which it moved to Bowness-on-Windermere in 2022. This year's return to Kendal saw events spread across the town, including Kendal Town Hall, the Cross Lane Projects gallery and local businesses.

The 2026 featured artist was Bill Sienkiewicz, and the programme was built around the theme Comics Can Change the World. Talks, exhibitions, live drawing, workshops and children's activities ran across the weekend.

On the Saturday and Sunday the Comics Marketplace filled the Westmorland Campus with creators and publishers, while the festival also hosted its third International Comics Rights Market, connecting the industry with new work.

The festival has long punched above its weight. In 2015 it established the role of Comics Laureate, championing comics as a way to encourage reading and creativity.

Its mix of world-class guests and community events has made it a fixture in the Cumbrian calendar each October, bringing visitors from across the country and beyond to the market town.

For Kendal, the return is a homecoming. The town where the festival began, with the Brewery Arts Centre that helped launch it, is once again the base for a weekend that turns streets, halls and galleries over to drawing and storytelling. For families, it is also a chance for young readers to meet the artists behind the pages they love.

Highlights from this year and news of the next festival will be shared on the festival's website, which is also the place to sign up for updates.