GLASGOW ZINE FEST
Glasgow Zine Fest (organized by the Glasgow Zine Library) has been on my radar since I first started getting really serious about zines all the way back in 2020. I was lucky enough this year that not only was I able to attend but that I got to stall both days. It was a big trip for the distro, and I want to share this milestone by telling you all about it.
I was lucky enough to have company for this trip in the form of three friends, Destiny, Crow, and Dom. All of these lovely people have helped at previous fairs and it’s likely if you’ve popped by in person you’ve met at least one of them!
THE ZINE FEST
It took place in The Briggait, a really lovely space with high glass ceilings and lots of room to fit the impressive number of stall holders in attendance. Most fairs I’ve attended I can’t see the outside world very well, if at all, and being able to watch the clouds overhead was a lovely change of pace. However, I do say this fondly but with some internal pain, it did basically become a green house after about 1pm both days. As soon as the sun moved far enough in the sky the already hot space became like a sauna. I became the kind of sweaty where a cold shower at the end of the day was the only way to feel normal again but felt like a wasted effort when the same situation occurred the next day.
Outside of dying from heat the zine fest was an amazing experience. Glasgow Zine Library were thoroughly organized, friendly, and present throughout the whole two days. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience from there end. In truth I was only able to attend as they helped cover some of my travel costs, otherwise it wouldn’t have been viable for me to attend finically.
My highlights around the actual fair revolve around all the people I got to meet and chat with. As always I met so many new cool and interesting fair goers but it was even more exciting to put faces to names I’ve only known online, either through social media or email exchanges to stock there work. There is something irreplaceable about being able to connect with other zinesters in person, which occurs at every fair but due to the size of Glasgow Zine Fest it was almost overwhelming.
I did manage to escape my stall sometimes to hand out copies of my Zine Resource to other stall holders or go spend my own money. My personal collection of zines is near 500 and I found so many new additions to add. You can see in the photos below the zines I collected during the fair, most of which I did actually acquire most in trades.
UNLUCKY
I had some unfortunate luck on the second day of the fair, in the morning I found a large lump on the side of my wrist. For those of you who might be squeamish, don’t worry, I won’t be sharing any photos. Showing my friends (who all looked a bit green and worried upon seeing it) I decided I maybe needed a professional to check it out. This was discovered maybe half an hour before I was going to leave our accommodation to get to the fair early to snoop around and have a chance to chat. I didn’t get to do that.
In seems very typical of me to injure myself on a Sunday, which also happened to be a bank holiday weekend, while in another country. Luckily through some internet searching I found a Boots with an open chemist only five minutes away from the venue.
Me and my angel of a friend Destiny hurriedly made our way to the shopping Centre only to be told that the chemist, the person who was qualified to check me out hadn’t arrived. I wasn’t panicked, I still had over 40minutes until the fair started and I didn’t think it would take that long. Aside from the fact they never turned up.
Another quick online search showed two more Boots, one 6 minutes and the other 15 minutes away. Wanting to be as fast as possible, we moved swiftly onto to closer of the two options only to find out it wasn’t open at all. This is when my stress started to really settle in and I had no choice but to send Destiny to man the distro’s stall on her own while I went to the third Boots on my own.
This one was thankfully open and had a chemist in, meaning all I had to do was wait for them to see me. I really can’t forget the look on the pharmacists face when they asked what was wrong and I held up my wrist, apparently it wasn’t just my friends who felt a little sick looking at it. I was maybe there a total of twenty minutes to be told it’s a possible sprain, try not to lift anything heavy, take ibuprofen, and probably go see my GP if it didn’t go down in a few days.
It did not seem worth the effort and being late to be told to do something I’d have done anyway. At least I knew it wasn’t serious. To reassure everyone the sprain is much better now but the lump is a ganglion cyst, which when I asked my GP when it would go she responded ‘how long is a piece of string?’so I expect it’ll be with me for a while. At least the pain has gone.
OTHER FUN
SKETCHBOOK
A tradition I started for myself some years ago is to take a tiny sketchbook with me and do my best to fill it while I’m away. It’s my favorite souvenir to bring back from a holiday. It’s One part collected items/junk, one part journal, and one last part sketchbook. Most of it isn’t related to Glasgow itself, or even what I did, but it’s a fantastic way to flex your creative muscles and create some fond memories.
CATEGORY IS BOOKS
The last things I want to talk about is a tiny little queer bookstore I dragged several friends to on my first day in the city. It’s a tiny independent you can find in the Southside of Glasgow city
A goal of mine in any city I visit is to find a small bookstore to support and find something to read while away. I was not disappointed, despite the small size of the venue they had a huge range of books, comics, manga, and zines on offer. Even having a section for second hand books, which made my little heart jump for joy. It’s certainly up there as one of my favorite bookstores I’ve ever visited and worth popping by if you’re ever in Glasgow.
We know I picked up some books while here. Typically, I like to pick up at least two different books, one fiction and one non-fiction, whenever I’m away. Means no matter what my mood is I’ll want to read something. I’ll end this blog post on my picks:
FICTION: Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin
NON-FICTION: The Lesbian Avenger Handbook: A Handy Guide To Homemade Revolution
Plus a third buy rouge buy from the second hand section: You Didn’t Hear This From Me: Notes On The Art Of Gossip by Kelsey McKinney.