Local Zinefest Creates A New Buzz With KHZ

Hamilton Zinefest is ramping up for their 8th annual gathering of zine-enthusiasts as the newly rebranded KHZ - Kirikiriroa Hamilton Zinefest. For the 2022 edition, the main Zinefest ‘market day’ event is free entry and will be held at the Wintec City Hub Event Room 1 on Saturday 7 May.

An inspirational offshoot of Hamilton’s creative community, the zine - which rhymes with ‘scene’ - is a miniature DIY magazine created to express an idea, story, poem, collage, comic, artwork, illustration, fact, fiction, comedy, tragedy and anything else in between.

Co-organised by the original festival founder, Bryce Galloway has gathered together a fresh group of eclectic locals to help run KHZ 2022, ready to bring a more contemporary event to a decades-old subculture.

Bryce said he is “really excited” about launching the new KHZ brand in 2022. “We wanted to more accurately reflect the inclusive kaupapa of the zine-making ethos within Kirikiriroa’s local creative community and the greater Zinefest network across Aotearoa,” he said.

Described by some as a ‘creative-Comic-Con-style market day’, the local zinefest is also known for hosting free workshops and seminars throughout the event. This year is boasting four guest slots including renowned comic artist Daniel Vernon aka Danz - famed for his YeeHawTheBoys digital comic art and punk band Dartz - will be launching his new comic ‘Addressing the Racism in the Room’.

Alongside Daniel Vernon’s zine launch will be presentations from Tauranga Zinefest organiser and graphic designer Hannah Wynn, Paekākāriki-dwelling Burma punk scene expert KT Julian, and local comic connoisseurs Peter Dornuaf and Dean Ballinger.

A new addition to the 2022 line up is the inclusion of free zine-making workshops prior to the main event. Comic artist and guest speaker Danz will be hosting a ‘zine jam’ at Hamilton City Library at 4pm on Friday 6 May, and local illustrator and designer Guy Moskon will be hosting a mini-zine-making session at GoEco in Frankton on Saturday 30 April.

Helping to organise the festival with Bryce are local event managers, artists, musicians, communicators and fellow zine-makers, including local artist Pounamu Wharekawa whose art is featured on the event posters and local screen printers King of Nothing are creating the official merchandise.

“We also wanted to reach out to relevant local businesses to see if they were keen to get involved and reconnect with the local arts community,” Bryce says. “Especially after such a rough couple of years for events and businesses, we wanted to try and bring it all back to the locals who support locals.”

With a new approach, the KHZ team now have got an extensive list of new sponsorship support from Hamilton’s local businesses and organisations, including Browsers Bookstore, GoEco - Waikato Environment Centre, Print House, Tiger Tattoo, Mark1 Comics and Wintec School of Media Arts.

“We’ve been really blown away by the support and how many people are keen to get involved,” said Bryce. “All 40 stallholder places were snapped up real quick, and the sponsorship engagement has just been outstanding - we’re all feeling super chuffed and humbled - and it’s all very reflective of what the Zinefest stands for.”

The second Kirikiriroa Hamilton Zinefest event on Saturday 7 May is the KHZ Afterparty and ‘Best of the Fest’ awards ceremony, hosted at new music venue Last Place on Collingwood Street. With six big awards for the finest zine-makers, the 2022 presentations will be adorned with sponsored prize packs and guests will be serenaded by local music acts Empress, Glass Shards and Groundhog.

$10 door sales will be available at Last Place for the KHZ Afterparty on Saturday 7 May, otherwise all other KHZ 2022 events are free entry.

Event details

Kirikiriroa Hamilton Zinefest | KHZ 2022
Saturday 7 May
Wintec City Hub Event Room 1, Gate 3, Tristram St
10am - 3pm
All ages

KHZ Afterparty & “Best of the Fest” Awards

Saturday 7 May
Last Place, 54 Collingwood St
6pm til late
R18 - Or guardian accompaniment required

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