Registration for the 2025 Chicago Zine Fest will be curated to ensure we have a diverse mix of zinesters. The registration period will be open February 14–28. Everyone who submits an application will hear back about their status by March 31.

There will be no registration fees for those accepted to table at CZF 2025. That's right; it'll be free for tablers! We happily accept donations to ensure the fest continues to thrive and support our artists, workshop leaders, and community partners.

If you have any trouble with the embedded form below (or if you're filling it out on a mobile device), you can fill out the form directly here.

Before applying, please take a moment to review the CZF Safer Spaces Policy.

CZF 2025 is happening Saturday July 19th at a brand new venue: the Winter Garden at Harold Washington Library! We're thrilled to partner with Chicago Public Library to bring you the next Chicago Zine Fest!!

Registration will again be curated to ensure we have a diverse mix of zinesters at the fest. The registration period will be open February 14–28, and decisions will be shared by March 31.

Look forward to a hot fest this July!!

We're delighted to share the list of zinesters, distros, and invited guests who will be joining us at Chicago Zine Fest 2024! Find the table map and a full list of exhibitors at the CZF 2024 Exhibitors page.

We need your help to put on CZF 2024! We need volunteers to help us check in exhibitors, answer questions, give zinesters breaks, and help with clean up. To sign up for a 2-hour volunteer shift, just click the "volunteer" button below.

If you'd like to help us spread the word about CZF, we'll be meeting at Zine Mercado, Saturday September 8th, to hand out posters. Meet us at Comfort Station at 3 pm and then hang up posters in your neighborhood when you have time!

We couldn't be more excited to have the organizers of the Midwest Perzine Fest joining us this year at Chicago Zine Fest! MWPZF will be an important part of CZF 2024—the organizers chose a selection of tablers to be a part of Perzine Alley, where you can find amazing creators who focus on the personal in their zines.

Please plan on joining the MWPZF zine swap and zinester reading happening at Skunk Cabbage Books in Avondale on Wednesday September 4th from 6-8 pm. This is a free, masks required event. We'll see you there!

We're delighted to reveal the Chicago Zine Fest 2024 poster, created by Mel Valentine Vargas! Mel is a queer Miwww.melvalentinev.com/ami-born, Chicago-based, Latine comic creator and illustrator. They work largely with digital media and have a BA in illustration from Columbia College Chicago. Check out their website at melvalentinev.com.

We couldn't be happier with Mel's artwork! Look for posters and postcards with the art at this year's CZF. 

Applications for the 2024 Chicago Zine Fest are now open! This year’s exhibition day will be taking place Saturday October 5 (11 am-6 pm) at the Columbia College Student Center (754 S Wabash Ave). 

Here’s how registration will work: 

We have a smaller venue this year, so space will be at a premium. Everyone who wants to table at CZF should apply using the registration form. The organizers will select 60% of tablers, and the other 40% of tablers will be chosen at random. We are partially curating the fest to ensure there are an appropriate number of BIPOC and other marginalized zinesters represented, as well as to provide space for our community partners.

Applications for CZF 2024 closed April 27th.

Hello CZF fans! We’ve gotten lots of questions about registration this year. We’ve been hard at work finding a new venue for Chicago Zine Fest 2024, and we’ve made some preliminary plans to ensure we have an accessible-to-all, centrally-located, affordable, beautiful space for the fest.

Since we won’t have a formal contract until the end of March, we can’t announce a date yet. But we’re hoping that the fest will be held in early October 2024 and that we’ll open tabler registration in early April 2024. Please keep an eye on the website and social media channels (we’re @chicagozinefest at Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook) for more announcements about the fest and registration. As always, we're grateful for your enthusiasm and support!

Thank you to everyone who attended CZF 2023! We're grateful for all the tablers, volunteers, and visitors who made CZF weekend a success.

Please let us know how your fest went by filling out this brief survey: https://bit.ly/CZF2023. Thanks for helping us make future fests even better.