About
Our festival showcases the art of cartooning and our objective is to present diverse new work to as wide an audience as possible. Alongside new political and non political cartoons we also exhibit work from the British Cartoon Archive and place this in an historical context.
Our aim every year is to demonstrate that in our changing political environment the cartoonist’s art and comment is important and relevant as it has ever been. In 2018 we celebrated female cartoonists and illustrators in an exhibition curated for our festival and shown across two galleries and we held workshops and talks featuring artists and creators of graphic novels and comic strips. Cartooning attracts a varied audience, especially amongst those who do not normally visit galleries and with younger audiences and participants. it is very important to our organisation that all our exhibitions, events and workshops are delivered free and that all our events are accessible to everyone. our live event on the pier is popular and attracts big crowds.
Bayguide is a community interest company with deep local links. We work
closely with other volunteer groups and support them in different ways, both
practically and financially through our fees. Our festival draws visitors to the
town and promotes the work of other local community organisations. The
festival also benefits local businesses. The majority of our funding is spent
within the town. This is an important part of Bayguide’s mission.