Creepy Cryptids: Kirikiriroa Hamilton Zinefest 2023

The Kirikiriroa Hamilton Zinefest is fast approaching, and stallholders are excited to showcase their work. Wintec | Te Pūkenga Journalism student Sarah Morcom spoke to some of the organisers.

Monsters, serpents, and fae are just some of the creepy creatures that will be on display at the Kirikiriroa Hamilton Zinefest 2023. This year’s theme is cryptids, and about 40 stallholders are getting ready to share  their work.

A zine is a short-run, self-published mini magazine. The content can be anything from art, poetry, prose, political essays, to recipes. 

Because they’re not commercial, they don’t have to seek a really broad audience of people interested in rugby, or gossip, or fishing, Kirikiriroa Zinefest committee member Bryce Galloway explained. 

“They can be so niche, and that’s what makes them interesting. They can be like ‘what is it to look after an axolotl’, or ‘what is it to love this one obscure K-pop band’”. 

Stallholders can still sign up for Zinefest 2023, which is being held in the Hamilton Central Library. Galloway says this will be the first Zinefest in a few years without mask mandates, but the library space has lots of room for social distancing. 

“[Last year] was touch and go, we didn’t know if it was going ahead until the last minute”, said Galloway. 

“The library’s a much bigger space”. 

Galloway said he is looking forward to seeing any changes in Zinefest this year and is curious to see what creative zines will be on display. 

The guideline for stallholders is that each stall must be over 50% zines. 

“One thing that Zinefest has had to be quite emphatic about, is saying ‘this is predominantly for zines’. A lot of artists are seeing the opportunities for a cheap stall, but sometimes you’ll go and think, ‘hang on, less than half of the things here are zines’”.

Many stallholders have already applied and are looking forward to the event. Committee member, Eli Dawson, can’t wait for Zinefest.

“I just love meeting other artists”, he said.

There are a few satellite events leading up to Zinefest, as well as an after party at Last Place Bar on the night of the 10th of June. There have been a few zine workshops in Kirikiriroa Hamilton in the last month, and previous stallholder Kendall Noyes-White is running another one this week.

Zinefest is a great opportunity for new and inexperienced artists to gain exposure and confidence. 

“It’s a kind of simple way to go public”, Galloway said. Many of Zinefest’s stall holders are not necessarily experienced or trained artists, but the event is a great way for them to put themselves and their art out into the world. 

“I remember once, someone tried to make the world’s smallest zine”, he said. This was a tiny booklet made from chads (the circles of paper from hole punchers) of all different textures, that were hand stitched together. The artist then put the tiny zine in a tiny ziplock bag and stapled it to a business card that read “world’s smallest zine”. 

Zinefest will be held on June 10, at Hamilton Central Library. If you’re interested in running a stall, head to their Facebook or Instagram page and fill out the Google Form before submissions are full.