Chicago Zine Fest 2026
Chicago Zine Fest 2026 will be on Saturday, October 10th from 11 am to 4 pm at the Harold Washington Library Center (400 S State St, Chicago, IL 60605). We'll be on the 8th and 9th floor of the library. Find the welcome table on the 9th floor.
CZF is always free to attend; no tickets are required.
CZF is always free to attend; no tickets are required.
CZF 2026 poster
The CZF 2026 poster was created by Aaliyah Lachel’e. Aaliyah is a black queer artist from the the south suburbs of Chicago. With a focus on magical realism, Aaliyah aims to bring a little bit of fantasy to her viewer’s everyday life. Her work covers the general experience of growing up as an internet obsessed, loser-ish, nerdy kid-of-color, with a little dash of science fiction mixed in. She hopes you can see yourself in the work, because representation matters.
Aaliyah recently graduated with a BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago. You can find more of her work at her website peanutbuddarart.com or Instagram account @peanutbuddarart.
The CZF 2026 artwork features Marbles the Library Mouse. If you love Marbles as much as we do, you'll be able to buy Marbles merch at CZF 2026!
CZF 2026 exhibitors
Find table maps and a list of exhibitors for this year's fest. This is our first year hosting a special youth exhibitors room! All exhibitors will be on the 9th floor of the Harold Washington Library Center.
Find table maps and a list of exhibitors for this year's fest. This is our first year hosting a special youth exhibitors room! All exhibitors will be on the 9th floor of the Harold Washington Library Center.
CZF 2026 workshops and panel
Very excited for this year's programming, featuring a panel and two workshops. Both workshops and the panel will be on the 8th floor of the Harold Washington Library Center, in the Music Suite.
Very excited for this year's programming, featuring a panel and two workshops. Both workshops and the panel will be on the 8th floor of the Harold Washington Library Center, in the Music Suite.
- 11:30 am–12:30 pm: Indigenous Zinester Panel
- For Native and Indigenous artists and innovators who found it difficult breaking into mainstream publishing, zines have been a crucial outlet. Come celebrate self-publishing and Indigenous voices at the Chicago Zine Fest by attending the "Indigenous Zinesters" panel, where Native and Indigenous writers, artists, and makers will share their zine-related work. Explore DIY print culture that challenges dominant narratives for real, lived experiences while uplifting narratives, such as the relationship to storytelling, land defense, or radical archival histories. Panelists: • Analú María López (Huachichil/Xi'úi) from Zhegagoynak (Chicago) is a writer and community builder and librarian at the Newberry Library, where she curates the Indigenous collection. • River Kerstetter (Oneida) from Zhegagoynak (Chicago) is a designer, writer, and curator. • Andi Murphy from Albuquerque, New Mexico is a Diné journalist and podcaster who creates Toasted Sister zines, focused on Indigenous food stories. • Lindsey Danae Perez from Portland, Oregon, is a two-spirit Tongva illustrative artist who encourages self-decolonization through visual storytelling, giving voice to gender-nonconforming experiences, cultural reclamation, and spiritual awakening in their collection of handmade, self published comic zines.
- 1–2 pm: Exquisite Corpse: Collaborative Character Creation
- This workshop, hosted by Columbia College Chicago’s Illustration Student Group, encourages attendees to collaborate with one another to randomly create a character! Each group will work in teams to design a head, body, and torso without seeing what everyone else draws. After everyone’s character is complete, you’ll reveal what wacky creations you’ve come up with together!
- 2:30–3:30 pm: Street Signs & Sorcery: Fantasy Character Design Workshop
- Chicago has some VERY good street names, so obviously we should turn them into fantasy characters. Participants will get a real Chicago street-sign intersection as a name plus a randomly assigned species and class, then use those clues to create an original adventurer. We’ll start with a quick character design lesson, then spend the rest of the workshop drawing, designing, and making weird little guys. No D&D or TTRPG experience required! Hosted by CZF organizer Emily Steffen.
CZF 2026 hands-on activities
This year will have more hands-on activities than ever before! On the 8th floor of the Harold Washington Library Center, you'll find stations staffed by volunteers who will show you how to make a collage, bind a book, make a linocut stamp, and create your own pinback button. There'll even be a typewriter zoo where you can try out using vintage typewriters!
This year will have more hands-on activities than ever before! On the 8th floor of the Harold Washington Library Center, you'll find stations staffed by volunteers who will show you how to make a collage, bind a book, make a linocut stamp, and create your own pinback button. There'll even be a typewriter zoo where you can try out using vintage typewriters!
Free photobooth pics
We're thrilled to be joined by our friends at GlitterGuts again this year! GlitterGuts provides free profesional photography to anyone at the fest. A few days after the fest, you'll be able to see your photos at their website. Find their photobooth in the Winter Garden on the 9th floor and strike a pose!
We're thrilled to be joined by our friends at GlitterGuts again this year! GlitterGuts provides free profesional photography to anyone at the fest. A few days after the fest, you'll be able to see your photos at their website. Find their photobooth in the Winter Garden on the 9th floor and strike a pose!
Venue accessibility
This year's fest will take place at the Harold Washington Library Center 8th and 9th floors. The library is wheelchair accessible. There will be two entrances open to the public: the main entrance on the east side of the building at 400 South State Street and a second entrance on the south side of the building on Ida B. Wells Drive. If you have concerns about accessing the library, please contact the library directly. Check out photos of last year's fest to get a sense for the main exhibiting space on the 9th floor.
There are bathrooms located on each floor. Although they are marked by gender, all visitors are welcome to use whichever restroom they feel most comfortable in.
There is no parking garage at the Harold Washington Library. The library provides a list of paid parking facilities within walking distance of the library. The Harold Washington Library-State/Van Buren L station is located just outside the library, serving the brown, orange, and pink lines. Many busses stop at the library, including the #2, #6, #10, #22, #24, #29, #36, #62, #146, #147, and #148. There are bike racks on the east and west sides of the library, at 401 S Plymouth Court and 400 S State St.
COVID considerations
City of Chicago policy does not allow masks to be required at the fest. We are asking everyone who attends CZF 2026, either as a tabler or visitor, to wear a mask. While we cannot guarantee that everyone will wear a mask, we want to ensure CZF will remain as accessible as possible. N95, KN95, and KF94 masks are strongly preferred, because they are more effective than surgical masks at reducing the spread of COVID and other airborne illnesses.
Our primary COVID-mitigation strategies include:
We encourage everyone to test before the event, especially if traveling to Chicago, and request that you not attend CZF if you test positive for COVID or other airborne illnesses.
We encourage your questions and suggestions at [email protected].
This year's fest will take place at the Harold Washington Library Center 8th and 9th floors. The library is wheelchair accessible. There will be two entrances open to the public: the main entrance on the east side of the building at 400 South State Street and a second entrance on the south side of the building on Ida B. Wells Drive. If you have concerns about accessing the library, please contact the library directly. Check out photos of last year's fest to get a sense for the main exhibiting space on the 9th floor.
There are bathrooms located on each floor. Although they are marked by gender, all visitors are welcome to use whichever restroom they feel most comfortable in.
There is no parking garage at the Harold Washington Library. The library provides a list of paid parking facilities within walking distance of the library. The Harold Washington Library-State/Van Buren L station is located just outside the library, serving the brown, orange, and pink lines. Many busses stop at the library, including the #2, #6, #10, #22, #24, #29, #36, #62, #146, #147, and #148. There are bike racks on the east and west sides of the library, at 401 S Plymouth Court and 400 S State St.
COVID considerations
City of Chicago policy does not allow masks to be required at the fest. We are asking everyone who attends CZF 2026, either as a tabler or visitor, to wear a mask. While we cannot guarantee that everyone will wear a mask, we want to ensure CZF will remain as accessible as possible. N95, KN95, and KF94 masks are strongly preferred, because they are more effective than surgical masks at reducing the spread of COVID and other airborne illnesses.
Our primary COVID-mitigation strategies include:
- free KN95 masks (adult and child-size) available at the fest entrance
- air purifiers in the exhibition spaces
- CO2 monitors to provide information about the air quality in the main exhibit space.
We encourage everyone to test before the event, especially if traveling to Chicago, and request that you not attend CZF if you test positive for COVID or other airborne illnesses.
We encourage your questions and suggestions at [email protected].
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CZF 2026 kickoff zinester reading
Join us the night before CZF 2026 to kick off the fest! Hallowzine is an all-ages night of spooky zine readings with a terrific lineup (to be announced, but we've got some great folks already!!!). Thanks to our host Skunk Cabbage Books in Avondale, this event is free! Join us Friday October 9th from 6:30-8 pm for a night of fun and frights. |
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