Explore the works of hundreds of diverse exhibitors at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival

From its humble beginnings in a church basement twenty years ago, the Toronto Comic Arts Festival has grown to become one of the largest events of its type in the world.

“About 600 members of the public attended the first festival, with roughly 70 creators in attendance,” says Miles Baker, Executive Director of the Toronto Comic Arts Festival.

“Flash forward to last year, we had over 24,000 members of the public come, artists from over a dozen countries, and not just in a basement, but on three floors of the Toronto Reference Library, and a suite of programming. It’s a juggernaut that has full-time, year round staff, a lot of support within the community, and is a real marquee event to debut new books for publishers and cartoonists.”

The Toronto Comic Art Festival is free to attend, offering guests the chance to explore the works of over 300 independent exhibitors, including big names in comics and graphic novels, as well as buzzworthy up-and-comers. Following the success of last year’s hybrid model, the festival will continue to bring together digital and in-person programming, offering one-of-a-kind virtual events alongside an improved online marketplace for global visitors.

There is also a dedicated kids area, which Baker calls a “really important portion” of the festival.

“We want to start educating and getting involved with the next generation of comics readers as young as possible,” he says. 

Somewhat unique to the Toronto Comic Arts Festival is the fact that it’s curated, a task Baker is responsible for, along with two other adjudicators. There’s an open call for applicants and it’s free to apply.

“We go through every application to make sure that the people coming to TCAF are ready and they have the product and books to sell, but also through that process, we’re able to assemble a group of cartoonists that will really appeal to all kinds of tastes and genres and lived experiences,” Baker explains.

Over the past few years, there has been a resurgence of autobiographical comics, which offers festival goers a diverse range of content.

“We have a lot of autobio comics coming to the festival and, because of that, we have people who are talking about their black identity, their trans identity, their immigrant identity, and everything in between, especially a lot of intersexual identities in those works,” he explains.

“But then, because of this curation, we also make sure that we have fantasy, we have those crime books, and a bunch of stuff for children and for people who maybe read comics mostly through the newspaper. We’re really proud of how we go through and adjudicate and bring together what we think is a really diverse and exciting lineup of exhibitors.”

This year’s Toronto Comic Arts Festival runs from April 29-30 at the Toronto Reference Library (789 Yonge Street). For more information or to access the digital marketplace, visit torontocomics.com.