Auckland Zinefest
Auckland Zinefest is a dedicated zine event in the city of Auckland, New Zealand.
The fest' features a zine 'market', talks, workshops and more. The aim is to promote and celebrate self published works in the community.
After an apparent 'dry spell' surrounding zines in the city, Auckland Zinefest 2009 was the first dedicated zine event in 4 years - since Small Print (a previous zine festival). The 2009 event was held at the now defunct artist run space Cross Street Studios in Newton, Auckland. Cross Street Studios were non for profit artist run gallery/studio spaces, that aimed to incubate and promote local awareness in the local art community.
Since then, Auckland Zinefest has become an annual event that hopes to continue in the future. As a community event, Auckland Zinefest relies heavily on volunteers and support from local industries.
Auckland Zinefest 2010 was held in the historic St Kevins Arcade on Karangahape Road (aka K Road), in the Alleluya Cafe space and also the Wine Cellar bar space, and was supported by the K Road Business Association.
Features of the Fest
In 2009, Auckland Zinefest introduced an award for "Zine of the Year", in the hopes of encouraging some healthy competition amongst zine makers. It has since been come to be known as "Zine of the Fest", as there are festivals in both Auckland and Wellington (at the time of organising, it was unsure if there would be a Wellington Zinefest that year).
2009 winners were Neighbourhood Cats by The Water Bear Appreciation Society (Zach Webber and Heather Barnes). 2010 winners were 1, 2, 3, 4 by Ya Wen Ho and Simon Fletcher.
Each year the winners are presented with a custom made trophy; 2009 was a scientific model scrawled with 'zine of the year'. 2010 was a glass-cast dinosaur reading a zine, made by one of the organisers, Tes Rae.
Previous Zine Festivals in Auckland
In previous years (2003 - 2005) Small Print (aka Auckland Zinefest) was the main zine event in Auckland. Originally, it had planned to be an annual event - however only turned out as a biannual event before it ceased to run again. It was organised by a committee of helpers, though most notably local zine maker Moira Clunie who ran the now defunct Moon Rocket Distro.
In 2008, Ladyfest Auckland hosted a mini zine day in association with it's festivities, held at Cross Street Studios.
Other Zine Festivals in New Zealand
Wellington Zinefest is the major annual zine festival in New Zealand, running solidly for 4+ years. In 2007, Wellington's inaugural Zinefest was organised by Kylie Buck and Kim Gruschow (from Wellington City Zine Library and Guillotine Teen Zine, respectively), and was carried on in 2008 by Buck. In 2009, organisation of the event passed over to a revolving committee of local enthusiasts, still with support from the Wellington Public Library.
In 2009, the Christchurch City Libraries hosted Christchurch Zinefest as part of the libraries 150th anniversary celebrations.
External Links for Auckland Zinefest
- Official website - Details everything you need to know about the event.
- Small Print 2005
- Small Print 2003
- Moira Clunie
- Wellington Zinefest
- Wellington City Zine Library
