TCAF 2025 returns in a new home this week

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is back this week in a new home! TCAF has a very special place in the hearts of comics lovers as a showcase for the best in indie and literary comics. Much of the show’s appeal has been tied to its location at the Toronto Reference Library, a beautiful and erudite location that gave the event a very literate vibe. But with that local landmark under renovation, the show has moved to another local landmark: The Mattamy Athletic Centre, a former hockey arena wreathed in history. 

While I don’t expect the move to shift TCAF to a series of tooth-shattering brawls, I’m always fascinated by how a show changes in new venues – so I’ll be on the scene to report! TCAF has had many homes over the years: it’s salad days were in a parking lot behind the famed Honest Ed’s discount store (now sadly closed.) The new venue offers more space, which is something the event has needed for a while – so this could be its permanent home. 

It’s also a weird time in the world, and how that affects the show seems of interest as well. 

I’ll be taking part in THREE panels! 

Four-Colour Magic: Process, Cartooning, and Comics in Age of AI
10:15-11:15AM, SATURDAY, JUNE 7, College Room ⋅ Courtyard Downtown Marriott
For many, the creation of comics is like some kind of magic trick. But it isn’t a trick, it’s a meticulous process thousands of cartoonists use to great effect every day of every year. Now with the addition of AI to the toolkit, the notion of art as a magic trick has gained new traction, and not always in a positive light. In this panel the practitioners of the craft tell us how they achieve their daily personal magic, offer tips on how they do what they do, and discuss the implications of artists and hobbyists using artificial intelligence to create their works. Panel Moderated by Heidi Macdonald (The Beat) with panelists Kelly Collier (Steve, a Pretty Exceptional Horse), Magnus Merklin (DiSCONNECT), Jesse Jacobs (New Pets), and Hugh D’Andrade (The Murder Next Door: A Graphic Memoir) 

These are vital topics, so I better get some sleep. 

In the meantime, here’s more information about this year’s show. 

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) is thrilled to return June 7–8, 2025 at its new home at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Mattamy Athletic Centre. 

Free and open to the public, TCAF 2025 will continue its two-decade legacy as one of the world’s premier comic arts festivals—championing independent Canadian comics, showcasing global talent, and engaging the public in the power of visual storytelling and graphic novels.

TCAF 2025 will host over 315 international and Canadian independent comic creators, with 28,000+ visitors expected across the weekend. The festival’s diverse programming offers something for everyone, from first-time readers to lifelong fans, educators to artists, students to scholars. This year, festival events have a particular focus on the political significance of comics as commentary.

“Comics are uniquely suited to speak truth to power—across borders, languages, and lived experiences,” says Amie Wright, Executive Director of TCAF. “In this political climate, protecting the arts as a source of revolutionary self-expression and solidarity has never been more important,” 

In addition to the main festival weekend at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, TCAF 2025 offers an expanded slate of satellite events across the city:

• • Tuesday, June 3 – In partnership with TIFF, TCAF co-hosts a screening of Paying for It, followed by a Q&A with director Sook-Yin Lee, cartoonist Chester Brown, and TCAF’s own Ho Che Anderson. Chester Brown will be available for a signing following the event.

  • Thursday, June 5 – In collaboration with Drawn & Quarterly and Toronto Metropolitan University, TCAF hosts a special evening marking the paperback launch of Kate Beaton’s award-winning graphic memoir Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands. Featuring a musical performance by Peter MacInnis and an on-stage interview conducted by Mark Medley of The Globe & Mail.

  • Friday, June 6 – TCAF presents its annual kick-off panel. 2025’s theme is “Canadian Comics Now: Cartooning In a Dangerous Time.” Join acclaimed Canadian cartoonists Sanya Anwar, Guy Delisle, Faith Erin Hicks, and Cole Pauls in conversation with TCAF Festival Director Amie Wright.

For full festival details and programming schedule, please visit: www.torontocomics.com