TCAF returns for 2025 with a new venue and more exhibitor space!

Toronto, ON — December 2024 — The Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) is thrilled to announce our new venue and dates for 2025! The in-person festival returns and will be hosted at our new venue location for 2025 - Toronto Metropolitan University’s Mattamy Athletic Centre (50 Carlton St). 

TCAF 2025 will be held from June 7-8, 2025 at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Mattamy Athletic Centre, with additional programming space in the surrounding neighbourhood. Professional and Industry Programming for educators, students, scholars, librarians, and comics professionals, including the return of Libraries and Education Day, is scheduled for Friday June 6 at a nearby location. We will also be hosting off site events and workshops in the days leading up to TCAF 2025. More details on that programming coming in the new year! 

Want to table at TCAF? Apply to Exhibit at TCAF - deadline Jan 24, 2025

Have a programming idea? Call for Programming at TCAF - deadline Feb 14, 2025

New Venue: 

From 2009-2024 TCAF was held at the Toronto Reference Library, and presented by the Toronto Public Library (TPL). In 2024, TCAF welcomed over 28,000 attendees and 350 artists from all around the world. If you weren’t there, it was a great time. However, due to planned renovations at the Toronto Reference Library over the next two years, TCAF needs to find new space for 2025 and beyond. We’re incredibly excited about finding a new home at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Mattamy Athletic Centre, but we also wanted to take a moment to acknowledge TPL. We are incredibly thankful to the Toronto Public Library for its invaluable support over the last 15 years and we look forward to future partnership opportunities with the Toronto Public Library in 2025 and beyond. 

Toronto Metropolitan University’s Mattamy Athletic Centre was once known as Maple Leaf Gardens and the athletic centre is a Canadian National Historic Site. The building is famous not only for hosting sporting events, but also hundreds of concerts and political rallies. Our festival will activate the new ice rink (built above the old one), basketball court, and rink concourse to host approximately 280 tables of cartoonists, collectives, and publishers. Hosting TCAF at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Mattamy Athletic Centre keeps the festival in the heart of downtown Toronto and closer to our hotel partners.

Exhibit at TCAF: 

While it can be scary to move, Toronto Metropolitan University’s Mattamy Athletic Centre will allow TCAF to offer more table space than any year in its history (!!) - a +25% increase in total number of tables. As such, we are removing our historical 3-table cap for publishers. We’re excited to spread out a little bit to better accommodate signing lines with our publishing partners. With the increased space, we will also be asking fewer creators to reduce their space requests. Moving to a dedicated event venue will also mean that TCAF 2025 will have earlier and longer set up windows than in previous years. 

Applications to exhibit at TCAF 2025 are open until January 24th, 2025, and applicants will be notified of their status by early February 2025. International exhibitors are welcome. 

TCAF 2025 Exhibitor Application: CLICK HERE TO APPLY.

TCAF welcomes those who have demonstrated a commitment to upholding the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion. We encourage applications from members of groups that have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized, including but not limited to, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour), persons with disabilities, and those who identify as women and/or 2SLGBTQ+. 

We are also pleased to announce that we have streamlined entry into our Access TCAF Program. This program forgives table fees from creators who self-identify as belonging to the groups mentioned above. 

Apply to Access TCAF: As you are filling out your exhibitor application, please click (Yes / No) if you would like to be considered for the Access TCAF Program to have your table fees forgiven. Please note that consideration for the Access TCAF Program is only available to exhibitors whose applications have been approved. If any given year there is no guarantee the number of approved applications for this program; if Access TCAF requests exceed our allotted budget for this program - now in its 3rd year - recipients are selected via lottery. 

Programming at TCAF: 

Beyond welcoming 300+ artists from around the world exhibiting at TCAF, we also offer programming for all ages. Have a programming idea? Apply! 

Applications for programming at TCAF 2025 are open until February 14, 2025, and applicants will be notified of their status by late February 2025.

TCAF 2025 Call for Programming: CLICK HERE TO APPLY 

Lastly, we are thrilled to announce the return of Libraries and Education Day (LED). We heard your pleas and it’s back! If you’re unfamiliar, LED is professional development  programming aimed at teachers, school librarians, librarians,  library workers, and people in similar roles who want to know more about incorporating comics and graphic novels into their collections and classrooms Our first LED since 2022 will return to its in-person format. 

About TCAF: 

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) is one of the largest independent comics festivals in the world. Founded in 2003, TCAF has been dedicated to promoting the breadth and diversity of comics since its start. Connect with TCAF at @torontocomics on social media channels (Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook) or at www.torontocomics.com Never visited TCAF before and wondering what it’s like? Please visit one of our favourite videos from TCAF 2018 (video courtesy of Innerspace, 2018).

TCAF is committed to providing an event free of discrimination and harassment; a festival where all participants are treated with respect and dignity. More about this commitment can be found in our Conduct & Harassment Policy on our About page.

TCAF would not be possible without the support of its partners, sponsors and government funders. Thanks to our location partners, Toronto Metropolitan University’s Mattamy Athletic Centre. Special thanks for TCAF 2025 to our sponsors and funders, The Beguiling Books and Art, the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, and the Government of Ontario.