Saturday the third of February was the first Barnsley Zine Fair and it went brilliantly! I approached the library last year about using some space there for a zine fest, and the person there roped Jason from The Civic in too. Then the library person ended up leaving and Jason really ran with the idea and arranged for it to be at The Civic instead. I didn't have a lot to do with the organising at all, but that was okay because it meant a lot less stress for me. It meant that I could just turn up on the day and have fun! Jason had done brilliantly and advertised it really well, so there were a lot of people there!
Lee and I got to the Civic just about 9.40. It's only a couple of miles from our house so we didn't need to rush! The space is usually the exhibition space so it's got a few different rooms. I was round a corner and was next to Chloe, who is obviously my friend, so that was nice. I did worry a little bit about the corner, but as it went I think most people made it round to us. If Jason does this again, he will use a different space I think, but this one really did work fine.
The fair opened at 10.30 and straight away there were quite a few people there! That's always good! I knew some people (and had invited some of them to apply to table when I was at Bradford Zine Fest last September) but there were loads of people who I didn't know, which was great. My mum came for a little bit at about noon, and Lee went to Greggs to buy lunch for us. My friend Ceri from book club turned up with her friend later, too, as Lee had told her about the fair at my birthday party. Now my book club wants to know what a zine is, and wants to read some of mine! They do fascinate a lot of people I think. I genuinely believe that everyone should write at least one zine in their lifetime!
There was a lull of people coming through at around 3pm, but still a few. Someone Lee knew came, and the poet Ian McMillan, who's from Barnsley, came too, and bought two of my zines! There were quite a lot of creatives there who live in Barnsley, including a bunch of LGBTQ+ youth, who I am very keen to support. It was so good to meet some local people! I knew they were hiding in Barnsley!
We packed up about 4pm and Lee and I walked down to The Lounge for something to eat. Lee was going out in the evening to play a gig, so we just had a little bit of time and he didn't want much. I had Bang Bang Cauliflower, though, which was really nice. Lee had a fish finger sandwich. Then we shared a caramel sundae which was lush! We got home not too long after 5pm and Lee left about 5.45 to go to Leeds to play the gig. I laid in bed a bit longer reading Twitter, and then had a nap because I was knackered. I got up about 7pm and just relaxed all night by myself!
I was wearing some new footless tights from Snag. I had seen them and absolutely loved the colour and I do love the footless tights so I was keen to have them. They're a gorgeous blue colour but it hasn't showed up properly in artificial light. I'll try to get a better photo next time! I was also wearing my Be Gay Solve Crimes t shirt (Robin Stevens related, if you're wondering!), a Scarlett & Jo skirt, and my chenille rainbow cardigan from Simply Be. It was a good outfit for the fest I think!
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