{"id":34834,"date":"2024-05-30T18:10:52","date_gmt":"2024-05-30T22:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fbdm-mcaf.ca\/univers-bd\/babillard\/uncategorized\/une-13e-edition-du-festival-bd-de-montreal-au-dela-des-attentes\/"},"modified":"2024-05-30T18:14:18","modified_gmt":"2024-05-30T22:14:18","slug":"the-13th-edition-of-the-montreal-comic-arts-festival-exceeds-expectations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fbdm-mcaf.ca\/en\/univers-bd\/babillard\/press-releases\/the-13th-edition-of-the-montreal-comic-arts-festival-exceeds-expectations\/","title":{"rendered":"The 13th Edition of the Montreal Comic Arts Festival Exceeds Expectations!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Montreal, May 30, 2024 – <\/strong>The 13th<\/sup> edition of the Montreal Comic Arts Festival (MCAF) concluded on Sunday under glorious skies, marking the end of an exceptional celebration of comic arts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This free event, which ran from May 24 to 26 in collaboration with SDC Rue Saint-Denis, brought together over 300 comic artists from Quebec, Canada and abroad, offering a rich program of over 60 free activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The festival set a new record, with over 95,000 fans<\/strong>, enthusiasts and curious visitors over the three days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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13th<\/sup> Montreal Comic Arts Festival – photo credit S\u00e9bastien Lavall\u00e9e<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Qu\u00e9bec comics scene is enjoying a fantastic time at the moment, with a wide range of work being produced by both publishers and self-published artists. It’s a pleasure to see so many passionate or simply curious people coming to meet the comic artists, stopping to read one of our exhibitions or taking part in an activity as part of the festival. In fact, we’ve seen a sharp rise in the participation rate, and many of the activity tents were overflowing during the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s so important for our community, and for promoting the pleasure of reading, to be able to hold a free outdoor event like ours.\u201d, says M\u00e9lanie La Roche, Executive Director of the festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Varied Program That Attracted the Crowds<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MCAF 2024 offered 60 free activities<\/strong> for the general public, 8 exhibitions, as well as book signing and encounters with a total of over 300 comic artists<\/strong>, another record. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first year, T\u00e9l\u00e9-Qu\u00e9bec’s La Fab \u00e0 dessin<\/em><\/strong> allowed artists to draw and take on challenges live before the public’s eyes. \u201cWe consider this first year of collaboration a success: the public turned out in person for La Fab \u00e0 dessin\u2019s activities, and was able to remotely follow the festival by meeting several artists on our social networks over the weekend. We’re looking forward to continuing this great collaboration in the years to come!\u201d comments Isabelle Longtin, Regional Coordinator, Fabrique culturelle & Partnerships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The panel discussions<\/strong> presented by La Presse included discussions between artists in both French and English, such as This is My Story to Tell: Representation and Role-Models in the Comic Arts<\/em> with Sarah Kourkejian, Brandon Mitchell and Joanna Cacao. In addition, a panel discussion with Jillian Tamaki, creator of the 2024 festival poster, On the Road<\/em>, drew a record for panels of 80 attendees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to these collaborations, exchanges and conversations about comics attracted more than double the number of participants than in 2023<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fab \u00e0 dessin \u201cIn the World of Tim Probert\u201d – photo credit S\u00e9bastien Lavall\u00e9e<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The live drawing activities<\/strong>, always a great success with young and older alike, attracted a record of 648 participants for all 13 activities. Comic Reading<\/em> with Sarah Andersen and Joshua Barkman was a big hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Festival-goers were also able to attend creative workshops<\/strong> and take advantage of Express Drawings <\/em>to learn how to create a raven, a unicorn or a mecha robot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To wrap up Friday and Saturday, the Montreal Comic Arts Festival presented the immersive show <\/strong>Shangri-La<\/em><\/strong> at the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 des arts technologiques [SAT]. This comic book inspired concert, based on Mathieu Bablet’s work, was produced by Collectif Or Normes in partnership with studio Umanimation.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last but not least, the professional day<\/strong> was a special opportunity for artists to network, with Lisa Mandel’s masterclass on new publishing models and Tim Probert’s shop talk on lighting. As well as being an opportunity for artists to learn more about their profession, these exchanges were also great moments of sharing between comic artists from different backgrounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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13th<\/sup> Montreal Comic Arts Festival\u00a0 – photo credit S\u00e9bastien Lavall\u00e9e<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Winners of the 25<\/strong>th<\/sup><\/strong> B\u00e9d\u00e9lys Awards<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over 200 members of the comics community were present at La Tulipe for the festival’s opening night on Thursday, May 23. The evening, hosted by journalist and animator Marie-Louise Arsenault, rewarded the best of comics published in 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six prizes were handed out, for a total of $5,000 in grants<\/strong>, thanks to our partners: T\u00e9l\u00e9-Qu\u00e9bec, Librairie Plan\u00e8te BD and Copibec. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each prize was accompanied by a unique trophy created by artist Karl Dup\u00e9r\u00e9-Richer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The winning comics are: <\/p>\n\n\n\n