The UK’s Best Kids’ Comic Festival has joined forces with the Lakes International Comic Art Festival – and here are the guests, including Jamie Smart!
The Phoenix comic and the Lakes International Comic Art Festival (LICAF) are delighted to announce the Phoenix Fest 2025 guests heading to Bowness-on-Windermere during this year’s Festival weekend, including Jess Bradley, Neil Cameron and Jamie Smart.
The creators are heading to heart of the Lake District this autumn as part of an exciting new partnership, as, for the first time ever, Phoenix Fest – the UK’s best-loved children’s comics festival – will join LICAF for a weekend of storytelling, creativity, and comic fun in Bowness-on-Windermere, from Friday 26th to Sunday 28th September 2025.
Tickets for Phoenix Fest events will be sold separately from LICAF’s general Festival Pass, and will go on sale at 8.00pm on Tuesday 1st July 2025.
Further details, including the full line-up and event updates will be available via www.comicartfestival.com and thephoenixcomic.co.uk/phoenix-fest/
• Festival Passes for the rest of LICAF 2025 are available now
Meet The Phoenix Fest Guests
Jamie Smart
Jamie Smart is the artist and writer of the #1 best-selling series Bunny vs Monkey, which has sold over 2 million books. He is also the creator of Looshkin, Megalomaniacs, Flember and Battle Suit Bea. Jamie Smart was named Illustrator of the Year at the British Book Awards 2024 and won Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year for Bunny vs Monkey: Multiverse Mix-up. His latest comic, Hero Slam, has just debuted in The Phoenix comic.
Neill Cameron
Neill Cameron is a comics writer and illustrator and creator of the best-selling Donut Squad and the award-winning Mega Robo Bros graphic novel series. He is also the author/illustrator of the popular middle-grade novels Freddy vs School, Freddy and the New Kid and Freddy the Superstar. He is a frequent contributor to the UK weekly children’s comic The Phoenix.
James Turner
James Turner is the writer and artist of Clatters & Bump and the writer of Toby and the Pixies, and Star Cat. All of which appear in The Phoenix Comic. James is an award-winning cartoonist, who has 15 years of experience working in TV and film.
Jess Bradley
Jess Bradley is the illustrator and writer of Squid Bits and Ravi and Jess, which appear weekly in The Phoenix comic. Jess works from her home studio and likes drawing in her sketchbooks, reading, playing video games and watching cartoons with her son.
Sam Davies
Sam Davies is a writer and illustrator based in Oxford, UK She is the creator of Tooth and Claw Acadamy for Magical Creatures, which appears frequently in The Phoenix Comic. Sam is also well-known online for Stutterhug, an ongoing collection of short silent comics for soft creatures of all ages, and her graphic novel series Hex Vet.
Zak Simmonds-Hurn
Zak Simmonds-Hurn is an artist, best known for his work on Legacy, Dragon Guard and Know Your Monsters, all of which appear in The Phoenix. Zak is also the illustrator behind the Phoenix Fest mascot, Ember.
Abby Bulmer
Abby Bulmer is the artist behind Doggo, Earth Protection Force, and Claire: Justice Ninja, all of which have appeared in The Phoenix. Abby works as a freelance cartoonist and is based in Manchester. She works across comics, book illustration and animation.
Emily Kimbell
Emily Kimbell is the artist and co-writer behind Thingamajigs which appears in The Phoenix comic. She began her career in animation as a background artist and designer on children’s TV shows and point-and-click adventure games. She now works in children’s books and comics.
Daniel Kimbell
Daniel Kimbell is the writer of Thingamajigs, which appears regularly in The Phoenix Comic.
Rob Deas
Rob Deas is the creator of Fawn and Legends of Olympus which appear in The Phoenix comic. He is an award-winning UK comic artist with over 18 years’ experience in the UK comic industry. Rob is also the primary artist and series editor for the weekly drawing tutorial series The Phoenix Comic Club and the artist for The Valhalla Protocol.
Siobhan McKenna
Siobhan McKenna is the character artist behind the popular puzzle series Pandora in Puzzlevale. She works as a creator and editor at The Phoenix comic. Outside of The Phoenix she illustrates and creates cute merch. She also has a dog called Gizmo.
Marc Jackson
Marc Jackson is a cartoonist based on Macclesfield and the founder/director of Macc-Pow! Comics festival, now in its 10th year. He is the creator of many comics, including Duck Dare and Donald Dogsbody in The Phoenix.
Jonathan Barrett
Jonathan Barrett is a regular contributor of the Phoenix, including the author of Fates & Fortunes. He lives in Oxford and enjoys carving intricate, beautiful pumpkins.
Tickets for Phoenix Fest events will be sold separately from LICAF’s general Festival Pass, and will go on sale at 8.00pm on Tuesday 1st July 2025.
Further details, including the full line-up and event updates will be available via www.comicartfestival.com and thephoenixcomic.co.uk/phoenix-fest
• Festival Passes for the rest of LICAF 2025 are available now
