Join author and illustrator Jiro Bevis for a fun-filled Dr Dog workshop! Enjoy a reading with Jiro and then get creative making Halloween themed masks. Colour in your own Dr Dog character mask and take it home!

Perfect for children ages 3+

Hosted by: Jiro Bevis & Do Re Mi Books

Sam Taylor and Kyle Platts will be on hand to guide you through creating your own one-of-a-kind bumper sticker. Blank stickers courtesy of StickerApp, pens courtesy of Posca

Hosted by: Sam Taylor & Kyle Platts

Join director, designer and puppet maker Cat Johnston for a paper mask making workshop where fantastical characters come to life. Drawing on Cat's illustration and puppet-making practice, participants create their own original creature, built from paper and brought to life through character and detail.

Hosted by: Cat Johnston

Discover what's hiding in the Pocket Family's pockets! Kazuko Matt, author and illustrator of The Wonderful Pocket Family, will read from her heartwarming picture book and share the inspiration behind her characters — before children become honorary members of the Pocket Family and decorate their very own pocket with whatever they'd like to keep inside.

Perfect for children of all ages.

Hosted by: Kazuko Matt & Do Re Mi Books

Need a boost of luck in your life? An evil spirit you need to expel? If so, join us in this painting workshop where you’ll be lead you through designing and painting your own custom lucky horse brass using pre-hand made recycled egg carton maché trinkets. Perfect to adorn your abode with!

Hosted by: Gemma Taylor

Enjoy a reading from Thomas, followed by a puppet making workshop where children can make and decorate their own paper puppets. At the end of the session, the puppets can be placed in a window-shaped diorama for children to play out their own stories, then take home to continue their adventures. 

Hosted by Thomas Hedger & Do Re Mi Books

Hamish Steele is the graphic novelist and animator behind the DeadEndia series, which he adapted from a cult graphic novel into the Netflix animated show Dead End: Paranormal Park. He'll be joining us to talk about his career - from the page to the screen - and the process of creating bold, inclusive stories that have earned him a cult following.

Hosted by: Hamish Steele

Come fold and fill your own accordion booklet! Tell a story, collect doodles from your favourite artists, draw your friends as sea slugs, create a comic about an obscure historical figure…anything goes! All made with beautiful paper kindly provided by GF Smith.

Hosted by: Lewis Danielski

Chicago-based artist Ben Marcus works across comics, illustration, sculpture and murals. He also runs Goodbye Press, publishing his own work alongside collaborations and anthologies with other artists. He’ll discuss how he’s sustained his creative practice over the years, and why keeping it simple has been key to making it all work.

Hosted by: Ben Marcus

Create your own Funny Face portraits using an array of stamps and ink! Whether it’s a self portrait, or a portrait of someone else, having fun is key!

Hosted by: Beth Izatt & Noah Kulman

Join FormPlay Studio for ShapePlay®, their playful way of finding new ideas. Cut out simple shapes from coloured paper, move them around the page, and see what characters and stories start to appear. It’s a fun way to loosen up and get creative without overthinking it.

Hosted by FormPlay Studio

We're joined by Gemma Shiel, founder and Creative Director of Lazy Oaf, to look back on 25 years of the brand. Led by curiosity, instinct and a love of making things, she has built a distinctive creative world around fashion, art and culture, bringing people together through ideas, collaboration and community.

Hosted by: Gemma Shiel

Join Patrick Gildersleeves (YUK FUN) and Elsa Hingley-Knight (2B Or Not 2B) as they engage in a battle to complete your requests in the scariest arena imaginable; live public illustration. Inspired by YUK FUN’s popular online weekly drawing club. Will there be horses with buff knees? Will Patrick do an impression of Sean Bean? Will we see a doodle of Dora the cat surfing? (Almost definitely) There’s only one way to find out….

Hosted by: YUK FUN & 2B Or Not 2B

Join children’s author and illustrator Nick Sharratt for this utterly hair-larious event! Nick will be sharing his brand new picture book, Mullets and taking a look at the hairstyles of characters in other favourite picture books like Shark in the Park and You Choose. There’ll be fun and games and comb-pletely terrible puns!

Family event for 3+.

Hosted by: Nick Sharratt

Select your instrument! Choose from a selection of DIY tools that have been Frankensteined into drawing supplies, then pair up and draw each other's portraits. Some tools are trickier to draw with than others, so choose wisely! Volunteers will be on hand to help you pick your tool and get set up at a drawing station. Open to all ages and abilities.

Hosted by Brighton Uni Illustration

Join us for a playful fabric gnome sewing workshop where we’ll create tiny soft forest creatures using hand-painted fabric scraps, coloured paper, stitching, and collage. Inspired by handmade toys, folk stories, and patchwork textures, this workshop is a space to experiment with colour, shape, and character while building your own little fabric gnome to take home.

Hosted by: Yujinia Wang

Want a fresh pair of eyes on your work? Swing by for a one-to-one chat with one of our lovely illustrators or industry folk, who’ll look through your portfolio with you and share friendly, helpful feedback and tips for what’s next.

Spaces are limited, so advance sign-up is essential. More details coming soon!

In this unusual and entertaining talk, artist Steve Xoh tells stories about some of the weird and wonderful experimental art projects that have taken over his life and what he learnt from doing them. This talk is never the same twice as Steve’s bingo machine, operated by a member of the audience, will decide which stories he tells.

Hosted by: Steve Xoh

We're joined by sign painter and glass gilder Alex May Hughes for a brief career overview and musings on nostalgia - as personal identity, creative inspiration, and commodity.

Hosted by: Alex May Hughes

Stella Murphy will be leading a workshop on how to create bold narratives through characterisation and world building — exploring how strong, distinctive characters can anchor a story and bring an entire world to life around them.

Hosted by: Stella Murphy

You are getting sleepy… very sleepy… In this workshop we’ll lull you into a (mostly) hypnotic state, then you’ll draw what your subconscious serves up, with your eyes closed. Once we’ve snapped you back to reality, you’ll turn those wonky dream doodles into a finished piece of artwork. Results may vary.

Hosted by: Uni of Brighton, Level 5 Visual Comms Students

Join Katie AKA Sandwitch Shop - for Positive Signs, a workshop where participants create hand-drawn placards celebrating the things they love. Bands, food, films, people, nature - whatever brings you joy. Once your sign is made, we’ll display them in and around the venue.

Hosted by: Sandw1tch Shop

Cat Johnston will screen her short films The Wickywock and the JubJub Berry and The Gods of Minor Ailments and talk about how she made them, with a peek behind the scenes at character designs, artwork and making-of photos. Stick around afterwards to get up close to the actual puppets.

Hosted by: Cat Johnston

Grab a seat and settle in for an hour of animation! A selection of films sent in through our BIF26 animation open call, from established animators and first-timers alike.