Edinburgh Zine Festival 2024 continues our partnership with Fruitmarket and brings a zine-shaped space to Fruitmarket’s annual celebration of artists’ book culture. The Edinburgh Zine Festival will take place alongside the Artists’ Bookmarket over the weekend of 10th and 11th February 2024.

Edinburgh Zine Festival will be an affordable, accessible, welcoming, and inclusive space to explore DIY self-publishing and zines. Applications for tables open September 13th 2023 and close November 13th 2023. We'll offer tables by December 2023.

For more information on Edinburgh Zine Festival, and previous years, visit: www.edinburghzinelibrary.com

For applications to the Artist Bookmarket, please go to this link: https://www.curatorspace.com/opportunities/detail/artists-bookmarket-and-edinburgh-zine-festival--feb/7572

What’s the difference between zines and artists books? We like to refer to Holly Casio’s excellent essay on ‘The economy of zines’. Whilst Casio acknowledges that zines are difficult to define - something that we probably have no business doing anyway- she suggests that what really matters is that zines are non-profit, operating in a different economy of gifts, swaps and trades.

The Edinburgh Zine Festival 2024 will provide a space for non-profit and radical forms of self-publishing, showcasing some of the amazing and exciting things happening in zines. A zine festival happening in tandem with the artists’ bookmarket will also illuminate some of the exciting overlaps and intersections between zines, artists' books and other forms of self-publishing.

We especially want to offer tables to people often underrepresented at zine fairs and you can read more about our priorities when assigning tables here. We recognise that money can be a barrier to tabling at zine fairs, especially for people from marginalised groups, so we are offering subsidised tables, and working to fund contributions to travel and accomodation costs for zinesters who need it.

Costs

A half table (tables are 6ft by 3ft trestle tables) costs £10 per day. This reflects the cost of hiring tables and chairs and we aren't making a profit from the zine fest (last year we were £90 in the black which all goes back into the costs of Edinburgh Zine Fest 2024). We are working with half tables as standard as this allows us to be more flexible with numbers. We are offering subsidised tables to zinesters who otherwise would not be able to attend - this will all be covered in your table offer.

Covid-19

As described in our To The Front policy, we prioritise applications from groups underrepresented at zine fairs, at DIY cultural events and in mainstream arts and culture. It would be hypocritical to both prioritise disabled zine makers and zine makers who are carers without also taking the risks of the on-going Covid-19 pandemic seriously.

As at previous zine fests, we will expect people who table with us, organisers and attendees to wear masks at the Zine Fest if they are able to. This is not something we can legally enforce but if we feel that people aren't working together to make EZF2024 as safe as possible for everyone, this may affect whether we feel confident to organise future zine fests. 

About Edinburgh Zine Library

Founded in 2017, Edinburgh Zine Library is an independent, collectively run, and grassroots reference library of contemporary zines currently looking for a new home. Alongside managing the collection, the zine library runs events and workshops. Find out more @edinburghzinelibrary on Instagram or Facebook, @edzinelibrary on Twitter or at www.edinburghzinelibrary.com.