How the Regional Zine/Craft Fair Came to Be
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In October of 2008, Caitlin Holcombe, Ted Forsyth and KT Schwartz took a trip to Toronto, Ontario for Canzine. With self-published zines proudly gripped in their hands, they made their way through the crowded, bustling Gladstone Hotel to their assigned table upstairs. Tucked away in a corner, they quickly set up their booth and took turns meandering through the densely packed building.
They were impressed with the sheer volume of participants and guests.
They accumulated a pile of zines to take home with them, and at the end of the day, were glad to have been a part of the event.
Months later, Caitlin and Ted lamented the lack of a cohesive zine community in Rochester, and within upstate New York in general. While, they could both order and trade zines with relative ease through online distros (distributers who buy zines at wholesale prices and make them available through websites & print catalogues) they craved physical contact with their counterparts. At Canzine, they had been able to meet the authors of zines they loved and create more tangible connections. They knew that in cities like Portland, Toronto and Philadelphia there was a greater concentration of zine writers and readers and that these zinesters' enthusiasm for the medium fueled the organization of zine festivals and libraries.
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