What’s a zine?
From Stolen Sharpie Revolution, and pronounced like magazine without the “maga-,” a zine is an independently created publication containing anything you want it to; personal experiences and stories, political ideologies, music related writing, gardening tips, fiction, travel stories, comics, photography, or anything you like. zines can be put together by one person or a group of people and they are usually photocopied but can also be printed offset, letter press, or mimeographed.

What’s a zine fest?
A zine fest is an event where zinesters (individual sellers as well as zine distro owners) meet up to sell and trade zines, as well as meet other zinesters. However, please note that trading is up to each individual zinester, and distros traditionally do not trade zines.

A zine fest is not a craft fair, comic book convention, or a book fair. We do not mind if these things are sold by tablers, but we do ask that they devote at least 50% of their stock to zines and other affordable printed matter.  Because zines are generally in the range of $1 to $5, you can expect to buy a lot of great reading material for a low price!

What kinds of workshops do you offer?
Workshop topics can vary from year to year depending on the submitted proposals. Sometimes they are activity based, such as zine-making for kids. Sometimes they are demonstrations or facilitated discussions to raise awareness or generate interest. Workshops are typically 30 minutes to 1 hour long.

If you’re interested in holding a workshop at Richmond Zine Fest, we have a proposal submission form on the site. If you’re not sure if Richmond Zine Fest would be a good fit for your workshop, feel free to ask questions at: zine.fest@richmondzinefest.org.

Who organizes Richmond Zine Fest?
Richmond Zine Fest is organized by a small but mighty group of zine-makers and D.I.Y. enthusiasts in the Richmond City limits. The current, active organizers are : Celina Nicole and Brian Baynes. If you’re interested in becoming an event organizer or volunteer, email us here: zine.fest@richmondzinefest.org.

When is Richmond Zine Fest?