The Lakes International Comic Art Festival recently announced it was going virtual with LICAF LIVE for 2020 – and the Lakes International Comic Art Festival Podcast team have an exclusive chat with Festival Director Julie Tait, who reveals more about the plans for this extraordinary and exciting step into the digital world.

Responding to uncertain times, the Lakes International Comic Art Festival leaps into a virtual setting for 9th – 11th October 2020

On this week's Lakes International Comic Art Festival Podcast (Episode 75), Pete Taylor chats to 2000AD and BPRD artist Laurence Campbell, and podcast hosts Ian Loxam and Nikki Bates chat to writer and comic book enthusiast Jordan Thomas about his comic "jam" project, Quarantine.

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival is supporting local Cumbrian schools and aspiring comic creators – well, colourists – with two special initiatives.

Both are part of the organisation’s outreach programme and commitment to comics as a creative art, growing the Festival activities beyond its best-known project, the annual Festival weekend in October. This work includes continued international partnerships, publishing and working with aspiring creators alongside those established to develop their skills, through workshops or projects such as Breakthrough.

Comics Laureate Hannah Berry has launched a long-planned UK Comics Creator Survey, for everyone making comics in Britain today, aiming to “snapshot” the industry – and use the results to help support it.