{"id":37437,"date":"2025-05-29T16:17:03","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T20:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fbdm-mcaf.ca\/?p=37437"},"modified":"2025-05-30T16:19:44","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T20:19:44","slug":"bilan-du-festival-bd-de-montreal-2025-une-14e-edition-riche-en-echanges-et-foisonnante-de-talents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fbdm-mcaf.ca\/en\/univers-bd\/babillard\/press-releases\/bilan-du-festival-bd-de-montreal-2025-une-14e-edition-riche-en-echanges-et-foisonnante-de-talents\/","title":{"rendered":"Return on the Montreal Comic Arts Festival 2025: a 14th edition rich in exchanges and talent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sunday, the Montreal Comic Arts Festival (MCAF)<\/strong> closed its 14th edition, presented in collaboration with SDC Rue Saint-Denis and T\u00e9l\u00e9-Qu\u00e9bec, on a very enthusiastic note. Despite cold, rainy weather, 90,000 people<\/strong> flocked to Saint-Denis Street. From May 23 to 25, over 330 artists<\/strong> and 175 exhibitors<\/strong> from Quebec, Canada and abroad participated in this great celebration of comic arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s really touching to see all the people who came to MCAF. Even on Saturday, despite the intermittent rain, the street was packed and good spirits prevailed among the exhibitors and artists. We know that the comic arts community and publishers are eagerly awaiting our Festival, and this year we felt the public’s reciprocal enthusiasm,\u201d says M\u00e9lanie La Roche, Executive Director of MCAF. She adds: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Authors generally work alone, often putting in hundreds of hours. It’s important for MCAF to give them this time to shine, and to meet their audiences and peers. – M\u00e9lanie La Roche, Executive Director of MCAF<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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14th Montreal Comic Arts Festival \u00a9 S\u00e9bastien Lavall\u00e9e<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Celebrating Swiss Comics<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to a partnership with Comics Network Switzerland, the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia, Presence Switzerland, and the Swiss Consulate General in Montreal, a large Swiss delegation took part in the Festival. Alexandre Grandjean, co-president of Comics Network Switzerland, was particularly impressed by the curiosity and warm welcome of the public. From Friday onwards, despite the cold and rain, a large number of people came to meet them. Whether as part of the Festival’s activities, at signing sessions, in discussions with the publishing houses present at the Swiss kiosk, or through the Swiss Comics on Display <\/em>exhibition, comic books fans were able to discover the scenes of the Swiss 9th art.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Lika N\u00fcssli and Krel at the Swiss booth \u00a9 S\u00e9bastien Lavall\u00e9e<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A captivating program<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MCAF offered some sixty activities under the theme \u201cBack to the Future\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex A.<\/strong>, who also designed the year’s poster, attracted a record 450 people to his drawn interview at La Fab \u00e0 dessin<\/em>. The team had to be creative to accommodate so many curious youngsters. Parcours Ludiques’ Jon Le Bon puzzle trail was also very popular with families.  T\u00e9l\u00e9-Qu\u00e9bec<\/strong>‘s La Fab \u00e0 dessin<\/em><\/strong> provided an opportunity to plunge into the world of several artists, as in the drawn conversation between Joshua Barkman and Isabelle Melancon, or the drawn interview with Catherin, winner of the B\u00e9d\u00e9lys Qu\u00e9bec Award.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Drawn conversation between Joshua Barkman and Isabelle Melancon \u00a9 S\u00e9bastien Lavall\u00e9e<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Panels <\/strong>presented by La Presse<\/strong> included such memorable encounters as How to Kill a City: Housing Crisis and Comics<\/em><\/strong> with Eleanor Hannon, Rick Trembles and Shaghayegh Moazzami, and Looking Back, Moving Forward: Coming-of-Age in Comics<\/em><\/strong> with Cassandra Calin, D. Boyd and Ned Wenlock. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the new features, T\u00e9l\u00e9-Qu\u00e9bec<\/strong>‘s Creation Space<\/strong> gave the public the chance to color and draw freely. The resulting works could be deposited in a time capsule to be unveiled at the Festival in 2035!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s more, the live drawing activities, workshops and exhibitions attracted a varied audience of festival-goers thanks to their diversity and accessibility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the weather, not a single activity was cancelled.<\/p>\n\n\n

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15 years of Pow Pow in comics \u00a9 S\u00e9bastien Lavall\u00e9e<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Professional days<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The addition of a second professional day encouraged a greater number of discussions between members of the comic book industry. The presence of the Swiss delegation enriched exchanges between professionals. Artists were able to take part in a panel on on artist remuneration, as well as a master class on inking with Denis Rodier, presented by Copibec. The evening concluded with the opening of the Festival and the presentation of the B\u00e9d\u00e9lys Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, one of MCAF’s proudest achievements was the many memorable encounters made possible by the Festival’s programming and team, which facilitated informal exchanges between comic artists and exhibitors.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Marina L\u00e9on and Sophie Escabasse \u00a9 Camille Gladu-Drouin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Winners of the 26th B\u00e9d\u00e9lys Awards<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

More than 260 people gathered at Club Soda on Thursday, May 22 to attend the opening night, where the best comics published or edited in 2024 were honored. For these 26th B\u00e9d\u00e9lys Awards, presented in collaboration with SODEC, a total of $5,000 in grants was offered by T\u00e9l\u00e9-Qu\u00e9bec, the Plan\u00e8te BD<\/strong> bookstore<\/strong> and MCAF<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The winners are: <\/p>\n\n\n\n