What is VanCAF?
VanCAF is The Vancouver Comic Arts Festival. It is a two-day celebration of comics and graphic novels and their creators, including an exhibition and vendor fair featuring hundreds of creators from around the world. Other Festival events include readings, panels and workshops. Since 2012, VanCAF has been held at the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Admission is free.
Information on the specific creators, events and exhibitions that will make up next year’s VanCAF will be posted on this website as we get closer to the event!
History
VanCAF is meant for everyone, whether they’re comic professionals, die-hard fans, or casual readers. For this reason, admission to all events is completely free, and participating fees for exhibitors are kept as low as possible. The festival seeks to support Vancouver comics, and to encourage local creators and stories.
The show has enjoyed a growing audience since 2012, attracting 3,200 attendees with 92 exhibitors in its first year. In May 2019, we boasted an astonishing 11,400 attendees, and 260+ exhibitors, spanning across two halls. In 2020 and 2021, we moved our festival online and have had some incredible, fun, and inspiring events!
The Vancouver Comic Arts Festival is managed and organized by the Vancouver Comic Arts Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting local cartoonists with the community.
Board of Directors
Rob Brown
President
Rob is a local bookseller and life long comics enthusiast. With a background in special education and libraries and a passion for art and storytelling, Rob has found comics to be a universal cornerstone in his career. Whether it’s comics in the newspaper, graphic novels, indie comics or the wide world of webcomics, Rob is of the belief that everyone can find something to love and resonate with in comics. He is very much looking forward to sharing cool comics with all of you!
Amory Abbott
Vice President
Amory is an American visual artist, illustrator, author, and publisher. He is the co-founder of Fire Season– a book project that collects visual and written reflections on the topic of wildfire, and founder of Cauldron Books & Comics– a publishing project with a mission to uplift and spotlight young comic makers and visual storytellers in and around Vancouver, BC. He teaches by day in the Illustration department at Emily Carr University of Art and Design.
amoryabbott.com | @amoryabbott on Instagram | @amoryabbott.com on Bluesky
Laurel Dundee
Secretary
Laurel Dundee is an Emily Carr graduate and illustrator from the unceded territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, and Musqueam peoples of the Coast Salish Nation, also known as Vancouver, Canada. Professionally, she’s worked on projects for Titan Comics, Empress of Blandings Productions, Cauldron Books & Comics, and Cloudscape Comics. In her personal work, she primarily draws fantasy landscapes and creatures as a whimsical love letter to the Pacific Northwest.
laureldundee.com | @kingmoth on Instagram | @kingmoths on Bluesky
Ben McLennan
Treasurer
By day, Ben works for a non-profit developer of affordable housing. By night, he likes to draw and engage with the Vancouver comics scene. With several years of experience in non-profit governance under his belt, Ben is excited to give back to the community by doing his part on the VanCAF board.
Ashley Disbrowe
Director
Ashley Disbrowe is a mixed-race Indigenous artist living in Coquitlam, British Columbia on the unceded, traditional and ancestral core territory of the kʷikʷəƛ ̓əm Nation. They have been working in the animation industry for over three years after receiving their 2D Animation and Visual Development Diploma from Capilano University. In their personal time, they enjoy attending life drawing sessions around the city, collecting art books and yapping about art and animation.
Social Media
