Event: CHCCYA Fest

Hello!

I went to this event last year and had so much fun, so when this year’s was announced I grabbed a ticket as soon as I could! The festival is held in the community centre/library, there were author panels, signings, swag and a treasure hunt.

Before the first panel there was time to look around, check out the swag table and Amelia’s Kitchen Candles store. I picked up some cool pins, books, postcards and bookmarks and bought a Throne of Glass themed candle. It smells wonderful and I’ll definitely be buying more! You can find Amelia’s online shop here. I recommend checking it out! I then went to sit down for the first panel of the day.

The first panel of the day was ‘Worlds Collide: When the Magical and Life Coincide’ with Alexandra Sheppard, Yaba Badoe and Kim Curran, chaired by Eleanor Pender. They talked about their books, Greek gods, the generosity of the human heart and fandoms. It was such an interesting talk, with some brilliant questions from the audience at the end. After the panel we had the opportunity to get books signed, I was able to finally get my copies of Jigsaw of Fire and Stars and Oh My Godz signed.

The second panel of the day was Debuts with Gabriel Dylan, Kate Mallinder and Sarah Ann Juckes. As well as talking about their books, they also did a short reading too. I’ve only read Whiteout, which is brilliant, though I bought a copy of Outside as I’m intrigued by the concept. After the talk there was a chance to ask questions before getting books signed.

Panel three was an ‘In Conversation’ with Laura Coryton, due to travel issues Laura couldn’t make it but was kind enough to still do the talk via Skype. It was an interesting talk about activism, ending the tampon tax and feminism.

The last panel of the day was LOL YA with Chloe Seager and Simon James Green, I don’t remember the last time I cried so much from laughing! They talked about their books, their own teenage experiences before reading from their books. Simon read from his upcoming book, Alex in Wonderland. I can confirm it’s even funnier when read by him.

Next was the Art With Alice workshop with Alice Oseman. Alice talked about her work, Heartstopper, different styles of illustrations. Alice did a live demonstration for us before we had the chance to give it a go ourselves. Mine is awful and will never see the light of day, I tried though! After the workshop, Alice signed books for us and I got my copy of PROUD signed.

After the workshop was the quiz, I teamed up with Faye, Ana and Susan. We came last but had so much anyway. And and I did win the  treasure hunt again and won some epic prizes! I had a brilliant day and definitely recommend going next year, I know I will be! Huge thanks to Chantelle, Marcus, everyone at CHCCYA Fest and the authors for all their hard work putting an amazing event on for us!