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.
Presented by The Phoenix comic, and organised by LICAF, Phoenix Fest 2025 will host a special line-up of live events designed especially for children and families. These unique events will feature a wide range of creators from The Phoenix bringing the comics, characters, and stories to life through interactive shows, drawing workshops, comic signings and general Phoenixyness!
Held annually, Phoenix Fest has become a sell-out celebration of children’s comics and children’s comic creators. Guests this year include Jamie Smart, creator of the best-selling Bunny vs Monkey and Looshkin; Neill Cameron, creator of Mega Robo Bros, Donut Squad and How to Make Awesome Comics; James Turner, artist on Clatters & Bump and writer of Toby and the Pixies and Star Cat; Jess Bradley, the artist and writer of Squid Bits and Ravi and Jess; Sam Davies, the writer and artist of Tooth and Claw Academy for Magical Creatures; Zak Simmonds-Hurn, the artist of Legacy, Dragon Guard and Know Your Monsters; Abby Bulmer, the artist behind Doggo, Earth Protection Force and more; Emily Kimbell, the artist and co-writer behind Thingamajigs; Rob Deas, the writer and artist of Fawn and Troy Trailblazer; Marc Jackson, the writer and artist behind Duck Dare; Jonathan Barrett, the writer of Fates & Fortunesand Doggo; Joe Brady, the writer of The Island with No Name, Susie + Brad, Tosh’s Island and No Country (Book Two is called No Refuge); Tom Fickling, the writer of Legacy; Will Fickling, writer of The Pack, Dragon Guard, Doggo and Legacy; Ned Page, writer of Doggo; plus writer Daniel Kimbell, and character artist Siobhan McKenna.
Partnering with LICAF to bring the festival to the Lakes opens up an exciting new chapter for the festival – giving young comics fans in the North of England the chance to take part in a brilliant, immersive comics experience that’s previously been too far away for many to attend.
“We’re thrilled by the range of Phoenix comic guests heading to the Lakes International Comic Art Festival this year for this special Phoenix comic tie-in event, says LICAF director Julie Tait. “This further boosts our ongoing work promoting comics among younger readers, alongside the regular Festival.”
• Tickets for the Phoenix Fest sessions will go on sale at 8.00pm on Tuesday July 1st 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.
LAKES INTERNATIONAL COMIC ART Festival Guests in 2025
Announced guests for 2025 in alphabetical order include in alphabetical order, Charlie Adlard, Mehdi Annassi, Serge Bloch, Philip Bond, Shelly Bond, Chris Condon, Dagsson, Simone Lia, Lorenzo Mattotti, Bill Morrison, Robbie Morrison, Mike Perkins, Jacob Phillips, Sean Phillips, Will Potter, the Rickard Sisters, Mohammad Sabaaneh, Alison Sampson, Chris Shepherd, Lucy Sullivan, Donya Todd and Craig Thompson, with many more guest to come.
About The Lakes International Comic Art Festival
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival is the only one of its kind in the UK, centred on events and comics projects brought to you from one of the country’s most beautiful areas – the English Lake District, in Bowness-on-Windermere. Modelled on European-style festivals, such as Angoulême in France, the annual Festival usually takes over the whole town for a weekend of comic art. The annual event features an International Rights Market for publishers, supported by the Arts Council; and a Lakeside Comics Marketplace for independent publishers and creators.
The Festival’s aim is to celebrate the whole spectrum of comic art, inspiring existing comic art fans and creators and, it hopes, generating new audiences and creators too. It invests in creators through a commissioning programme and has an emphasis on developing international collaborations.
The Patrons of the Festival are comic creators Yomi Ayeni, Kate Charlesworth, Keli Lark, Michael Lark, Sean Phillips, Lucy Sullivan, Bryan Talbot, Mary Talbot and Zoom Rockman.
The Lakes International Comic Art Festival is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. It is also supported by the Lake District National Park Authority and Westmorland and Furness Council.
British Comics Now and the International Rights Market are supported by the Adlard Family Foundation and Sean Phillips.
The Festival works with many local, national and international business and community partners, including Comic Book UK and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.
