Thought Bubble’s Art Trail Across Leeds’ Indie Venues Launches Today

Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: harrogate, leeds, thought bubble

The Leeds Thought Bubble city-wide Art Trail installation opens today, an exhibition hosted across 16 independent venues throughout the city .

It’s a week until the Thought Bubble comic convention in Harrogate next weekend, but that’s also the time for Thought Bubble to launch their week-long festival across the rest of Yorkshire between the 6th and 12th of November (but mostly Leeds and Harrogate).

The Leeds Thought Bubble city-wide Art Trail installation opens today. A large-format exhibition celebrating all of the images commissioned by the festival each year by renowned artists including Becky Cloonan, Tula Lotay, Choo, Natalie Andrewson and more. The 2023 Art Trail will be hosted across sixteen independent venues throughout the city centre.

The Art Trail aims to introduce the city to comic art whilst encouraging visitors to explore and experience independent Leeds locations with large-scale, high-quality prints installed at Miles and Co., OK Comics, The Belgrave Music Hall & Canteen, Kapow Coffee, Crash Records, Northern Guitars, Water Lane Boathouse, The Bookish Type, Nation of Shopkeepers, Jumbo Records, Travelling Man, Fred Aldous, North Taproom, Eat Your Greens, The Social Bar, and Outlaws Yacht Club.

Kicking off officially on Monday 6th November, the week-long Thought Bubble Festival includes exclusive events such as Vice Press presents: Batman (1989) in partnership with Everyman, which sees the printmakers bringing an exclusive selection of limited edition art posters and prints alongside a screening of the film; the official UK Launch Party of new comic publishing house DSTLRY who state that they aim to create a more sustainable and equitable future for creators, and talk in collaboration with Leeds Arts University’s Creative Networks series featuring the multiple Eisner Award-winning ND Stevenson and Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Molly Knox Ostertag. 

Thought Bubble will also be taking over the newly renovated Hyde Park Picture House for an animation-inspired all-dayer in partnership with Leeds International Film Festival, The British Book Awards Illustrator of the Year Dapo Adeola will be hosting a family-friendly comic book character draw-along and Free Comic Day makes a welcome return on November 10th when, thanks to Diamond Comics, libraries across Yorkshire will have a wide selection of all-ages graphic novels to give away.

And then we have the Thought Bubble Comic Convention in Harrogate, now in its sixteenth year, for the 11th and 12th of November to gather together some of the most influential writers, artists and creators in the world, whilst also celebrating Britain’s own grassroots comics community. Alongside guests including Jeff Lemire, Jock, Zoe Thorogood, Jason Aaron and Becky Cloonan, Thought Bubble Convention 2023 will contain panels on everything from classic comics to contemporary offerings as well as Q&As for creators.

Tickets for Thought Bubble Comic Convention are on sale with under 12s, carers and over 65s tickets totally free. Tickets give access to all events within the comic convention weekend; panels, workshops, guest signings, as well as the three halls of over 400 exhibitors, publishers and much more.

Martha Julian, Thought Bubble Festival Director said “We’re as proud as ever to be bringing this week-long celebration of comics to our beloved city of Leeds. The art trail in particular will take visitors round some of our favourite haunts, displaying some incredible images from the past 16 years of Thought Bubble. Our aim is that the festival has something for everyone – from die-hard fans, to those who have never picked up a comic before! We can’t wait to see everyone. “

Karen Butler, LeedsBID Director of Place & Engagement said “It will be great to see shops and venues across Leeds city centre animated with comic art, celebrating Thought Bubble through the years while paying homage to its origins in its hometown of Leeds.”

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