Special Events + Off-site Programming
There's more to TCAF than just the main event at The Mattamy Athletic Centre on June 6 & 7 - TCAF organizes and plays host to many other incredible comics-related events in surrounding neighbourhood in the days leading up to and during the festival.
Wednesday, June 3 7PM EST
Still Zine: CCOLxTCAF 2025 Launch
In 2025, TCAF collaborated with Canada Comics Open Library on a zinester and DIY space, including an invitation for people to contribute a single page to a very special edition of the Still Zine diary/journal zine project. Join us for a very laid back potluck launch as we gather and celebrate the heartwarming, the strange and, most of all, the comic-loving pages of Still Zine: CCOLxTCAF 2025.
Accessibility: This event is taking place on a second floor level store without access to an elevator, staircase to get into the space. Bathrooms on the same level, no accessibility rails in the bathrooms.
Net Plaza/The Canada Comics Open Library
267 College St ⋅ 2nd Floor
No registration required.
Friday, June 5 6PM EST
TCAF 2026 Kick-Off Panel: 20 Years of TCAF
Panelists: Battan (2026 Main Poster, with Jocelyne Allen translating), Chris W. Kim (2026 Toronto Variant Poster), Maurice Vellekoop (2013 Poster), Jenn Woodall (2022 Poster)
Moderator: Amie Wright, TCAF Executive Director
Streetcars and city skylines; strange worlds and stranger characters; speech bubbles and pages and panels and gutters. Every TCAF poster is a lodestar to the imaginative worlds of zines, comics, graphic novels, and the minds of the iconic artists who create them. Come and celebrate this kick-off of the 20th in-person incarnation of the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, with a selection of our incredible poster artists as they explore the importance of comics communities in these strange and scary times of ours. And don’t forget to grab a poster!
Jet Ice Lounge ⋅ Fourth Floor
Mattamy Athletic Centre
Friday, June 5 6PM EST
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Join us at Mick E. Fynn’s for a laidback evening of drawing, pub fare, and booze (or soda), within stumbling distance of the Mattamy Athletic Centre. Bring your sketchbooks and your friends, and we'll see y'all there!
Accessibility: This event is taking place in a first floor level bar space that is fairly accessible, although may be a tight fit for motorized wheelchairs and larger mobility devices, tight space to access the bathrooms on the same level.
Mick E Fynn's
45 Carlton St
No registration required, 19+
Friday, June 5 7PM EST
TCAF 2026 Kick-off Mixer
Want to grab a drink with your favourite comics connoisseurs in a laid back pub environment just a sketchbook’s throw away from the Mattamy Athletic Centre? Swing by Mick E Fynn's for a casual social gathering following the kick-off panel.
Accessibility: This event is taking place in a first floor level bar space that is fairly accessible, although may be a tight fit for motorized wheelchairs and larger mobility devices, tight space to access the bathrooms on the same level.
Mick E Fynn's
45 Carlton St
No registration required, 19+
Friday, June 5 8PM EST
Carousel @ the Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2026 Kick-Off
Host: R. Sikoryak
Artists: Hugo Canuto, Michael DeForge, Stefano Jun, Megan Kearney, Jay Odjick, Rachael Smith.
For the first time since 2018, Carousel returns to TCAF on Friday, June 5 at 8pm as part of the 2026 festival’s kick-off festivities!
Live comics readings and visual performances by an international group of artists and guests.
Light refreshments will be served; a cash bar will be available.
Jet Ice Lounge ⋅ Fourth Floor
Mattamy Athletic Centre
Saturday, June 6 6-8PM EST
Queer Mixer
Join us for a cozy, community-driven Queer Mixer at the beloved Café Pamenar, right in the heart of Kensington Market and around the corner from The Beguiling. This gathering is a warm welcome for 2SLGBTQIA+ creators, readers, organizers, and allies to connect, vibe, and celebrate the queer stories and voices shaping comics, illustration, and visual storytelling.
Whether you're tabling at TCAF, launching your latest work, or just here to soak in the joy and creativity of the fest, this mixer is a chance to meet kindred spirits, swap stories, and unwind with good drinks and even better company.
Accessibility: This event is taking place in a first floor level bar space that is fairly accessible, although may be a tight fit for motorized wheelchairs and larger mobility devices, the bathrooms are down a flight of stairs in the basement.
Cafe Pamenar
307 Augusta Ave
No registration required, 19+
Community Partner Events
These comics-related events are organized and hosted by some of TCAF's incredible community partners in the days leading up to and during the festival!
Thursday, June 4 7:30PM EST
Arizona O'Neill in conversation with Heather O'Neill
Presented by Drawn & Quarterly
Drawn & Quarterly are thrilled to welcome Montréal cartoonist Arizona O’Neill as she launches her debut graphic memoir, OPIOIDS & ORGANS, to Type Books on Thursday, June 4th. Arizona will be in conversation with Heather O’Neill at 7:30 pm.
In Opioids & Organs, a distraught, young Arizona makes a decision that will haunt her for the rest of her life. As she struggles to come to terms with her father’s death and her role as next of kin in making his life’s last decision, she uncovers inconvenient truths about the organ industry’s own codependence on the opioid crisis. The result is a damning critique of an industry that takes advantage of society’s outcasts.
This event is FREE to attend for all!
Arizona O’Neill is a Montreal-based author and illustrator. She is the illustrator of Nelly Arcan’s L’enfant dans le miroir, and Heather O’Neill’s Valentine in Montreal. Her comics have appeared in Hazlitt, Exclaim! and Canadian Geographic. She has created animated videos for many outlets including CBC. Opioids and Organs is her debut graphic novel.
Heather O’Neill is an essayist, short story writer and novelist. She is the author of nine books, including Lullabies for Little Criminals and When We Lost Heads. Her works have received wide critical acclaim and lots of fancy prizes. She lives in Montreal.
Type Books
883 Queen St. West
Free. No registration required.
Saturday, June 6 8PM EST
The 22nd Doug Wright Awards
Honouring the best in Canadian independent comics, the 2026 Doug Wright awards will be hosted by Ho Che Anderson, with nominees including many TCAF 2026 featured artists, including Lee Lai and Michael DeForge.
The 2026 Doug Wright Awards take place on Saturday, June 6th, at the historic Arts & Letters Club, 14 Elm Street. Doors open at 7PM EST, and the show starts at 8PM. This is a free event and all are welcome! The ceremony will also be livestreamed on YouTube: watch here from the comfort of your own home (or anywhere in the world!)
Arts & Letters Club
14 Elm Street
No registration required.
Monday, June 8 8PM EST
"I Draw Them The Best I Can"
Filmmakers and TCAF Featured Guests Jamie Michaels (author of the graphic novel Christie Pits) and Liam Karp sensitively tell the story of Canadian Holocaust survivor Adam Policzer. When Germany invaded Hungary in 1944, Adam, a young Jewish-Hungarian boy, was taken by his parents across the street to neighbours who agreed to hide him. From behind a fence, he watched as his family was taken away. After being discovered, Adam began an extraordinary journey of survival. While recounting his childhood memories and how these experiences have rippled through his family for generations, the film explores how making art—especially comics—has helped him reimagine his past, confront trauma, and find healing.
the Al Green Theatre at the Miles Nadal JCC
750 Spadina Ave.