I went back to Philly for the tenth annual Philly Zine Fest at the Rotunda. It is hard to imagine that the Zine Fest is that old, but it is. I remember visiting the Zine Fest while I was in college and thinking that it was cool, and something I really wanted to do. After college I began working a lot. Since the Zine Fest is almost always in October, I couldn’t make it because it is a super busy time in my work life. Fortunately for me the 2011 Philly Zine Fest last year was in November and I got a table. There I met one of the organizers, Sarah Rose, whom I had the great pleasure of spending a lot of time with in 2012.
Somehow, I forgot to sign up this year although I remembered to take off from work well in advance. Luckily I managed to get a table once I got there. My table was smooshed up against a bunch of loudspeakers on the stage. People asked me if I minded being right next to the speakers, but I actually liked it. It wasn’t mind-bogglingly loud and I was grooving to the tunes the DJ was playing. I could actually hear the music. If my memory serves correctly, he played a less upbeat selection of music that including The Smiths, M83, Robyn, and Aphex Twin. Plus, the position of my table on stage made me feel like I was a teacher about to give an important lecture, which I liked. Here is my picture at my table.
It truly was a great spot, because I was near by some of my homies like Dan Strauss, Kelly Phillips, and Cyn Why. Therewas lot of people I knew tabling at the Zine Fest including Sarah Rose, Bangarang Photography, 3:00 Comics, Awakening comics, Bianca Alu-Marr, Andria Alefhi, Annie Monk, and the Soapbox collective to name a few.
I wish had taken more pictures, but I did make a video walking through the fest on my phone.
It was a super great fest! We kept the party rolling afterwards as some of us gathered at Smokey Joe’s a bar around the corner. Here are some zines I picked up…
From left to right: Awakening Comics Philly Zine Fest 2011 and Tails of Sparky 3 By Steven Peters, The Young Dissenter’s Handbook Vol 2 by Ryan Eggensperger & Dan Strauss, Booty Call & Who is Stressed? by Hard Traveling Hero.