Helsinki Comics Festival goes Greece!
The 39th Helsinki Comics Festival brings Finnish artists to Athens in a one-day event
organised in collaboration with INNOVATHENS | Technopolis City of Athens and
Comicdom CON Athens festival on the 16th of November 2024, at 11:00 to 19:00,
FREE ADMISSION!
Helsinki Comics Festival was held for the 39th time at Cable Factory, Helsinki on August 31 –
September 1, 2024. Finland’s most international comics event gathers up to 25,000 visitors
every year. The themes of the 2024 Helsinki Comics Festival were pop and British comics.
The themes were reflected in the programme and the presence of several invited guests.
In order to escape the darkness of Finnish winter, the festival will take a trip to Athens in
November 2024. The event at the INNOVATHENS | Technopolis City of Athens culture hub
will take place on Saturday, the 16th of November from 11:00 to 19:00 EET.
Prominent artists from both the Finnish and Greek comics fields as invited guests –
Reetta Niemensivu is this year’s festival artist
The Finnish artists travelling to meet Greek audiences are Reetta Niemensivu, who has
been the selected festival artist and illustrator of the 39th Helsinki Comics Festival and the
HCF GOES ATH event, Siiri Viljakka, and Tuoni Myllylä. They will be joined on stage by
Steve Stivaktis, Ilias Kyriazis, and Dimitris Gavalas. Lida Tsene from Comicdom CON
Athens festival and Helsinki Comics Festival’s Athanasía Aarniosuo will discuss what it takes
to organise an international comics festival. Ville Hänninen will be presenting an overview of
Finnish comics to Greek publishers, and will joined on stage by Myrto Tselenti, presenting
Greek comics. Both Hänninen and Tselenti will be interviewing the guest artists.
Presentations, workshops, and sales tables
Several comics publishers and organisations will be presenting their activities and sharing
what all creators want to know – how to best approach them with an idea for a book,
exhibition or collaboration! Jemma Press and Athens Zine Bibliotheque are two of the
organisations taking the stage.
Of course, no comics event would be complete without the chance to shop! INNOVATHENS
| Technopolis City of Athens will host over 20 comics creators who will sign books and sell
books and merchandise.
Who?
HCF GOES ATH and Helsinki Comics Festival are organised by the Finnish Comics
Society. The Finnish Comics Society is an association of makers, readers, collectors and
researchers of comics. The society presents comics both to the wider public as well as to the
cultural establishment. It aims to promote the awareness and critical reading of comics and
to gain respect for the art form. In recent years the association has been active in launching several new cultural export projects as well as new websites and online services for comics
lovers.
Where?
INNOVATHENS | Technopolis City of Athens
Τεχνόπολη Δήμου Αθηναίων
Πειραιώς 100 Γκάζι, 11854 Αθήνα
In collaboration with:
Comicdom CON Athens
INNOVATHENS | Technopolis City of Athens
Jemma Press
Athens Zine Bibliotheque
Suomen Ateenan-instituutti
Suomen Ateenan suurlähetystö
Ateenan merimieskirkko
Net Technologies Finland Oy
Contact information and interview requests:
info@sarjakuvafestivaalit.fi
Ella Tahkolahti
producer
ella.tahkolahti@sarjakuvafestivaalit.fi
Athanasía Aarniosuo
director
athanasia.aarniosuo@sarjakuvaseura.fi