Britain’s Longest-Running Small Press Comix Festival Returns: Caption 2025 Needs Your Funding Help

The return of a very different sort of comics festival now, Caption, which ran from 1992-2017 in Oxford, is back and raising funds for its 2025 show… ‘Rebirth’.

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Caption was the longest-running UK comics festival from 1992 to 2017. It was a very special thing, run for both creators and fans and set-up to make interactions between those creators and the fans a focus of the festival. It really was a wonderfully low-key, small-scale, sociable thing unlike any other convention, with a focus on self-published, micro-published, small press works.

It’s always been about fans and creators getting together to celebrate comics, encouraging creators to put their books on the Caption shared table for sales and get stuck into the plentiful workshops and events running during the festival. This way, the traditional barriers broke down between maker and reader, less pressurised, more relaxed, more fun, whilst also giving you plenty of chances to discover the rich and diverse comic and zine works available at the show.

Well, now the plan is to bring it back, the veritable phoenix rising from the ashes, for 16-17 August 2025. And that’s where this worthy festival really needs your help. Because Caption has never been about money, it’s always been run as a non-profit, and putting on a comics show is an expensive business. That’s why the organisers of Caption 2025 have put together a crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo to raise funds towards the costs of putting Caption 2025 on. Their goal is simple…

Our goal is, quite simply, to bring Caption back so that more people can share in the positive and unique comic festival experience.

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What they need is at least £2,000 to fund things, with approximately £1,200 for venue hire, £800 for printing of fliers, booklets, badges and t-shirts and the rest, and then £1,000 for Special Guests.

And they’re looking at raising those funds by offering digital passes, remote passes, day and weekend passes to the show itself, plus a special tutoring tier. Then you have add-ons of the festival t-shirt and comics bundles.

This really is worth just putting down some money for, whether you intend to attend or not (although I’d really encourage you to attend, it’s a great show). It’s as far from the big events as you can get, a relaxed and welcoming comics festival that everyone who attends absolutely loves.

The organising committee for Caption 2025 includes artist and previous Caption organiser Amy Letts as chair; artist-tutor Emily Brady; Caption secretary 2005-2008 and comic maker and journalist Andy Luke; journalist, publisher, writer and artist Barry Renshaw; YouTube creator Matt Chambers; and Vickie Bernard, autism and disability advocate. Vickie will be in charge of the Quiet Space area, a space to relax and recover from sensory overwhelm, with the aim to make Caption more accessible to neurodiverse neurodiverse people.

So, put a date in your diary… Caption – the Oxford Comics Festival – Saturday 16th – Sunday 17th August 2025, Oxford.

More in here – https://captionfestival.co.uk/

Back the IndieGoGo crowdfunded here – https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/caption-small-press-indie-comics-festival-2025