Zine festival takes over Kensington Town Hall

Kensington Town Hall hosted the 2025 Festival of the Photocopier across the weekend of February 8 and 9, where more than 200 creatives, writers and artists offered their independently produced and hand-made zines for sale. 

The festival was free to attend, and free for stallholders, who showcased everything from photocopied black and white pamphlets of poetry to beautifully printed comic books. 

The festival has been running since 2010 and has grown in popularity, this year attracting large crowds that completely filled the town hall.

The festival is hosted by Sticky Institute, a volunteer and artist-run initiative that is dedicated to supporting zines and zine culture. It has been operating since 2001, stocking thousands of hand-made, short-run zines. 

The store is currently located in the City Art strip at 510 Elizabeth St, having been located in iconic Melbourne artist hubs in the past, including the Nicholas Building and Campbell Arcade in the Degraves subway.

Sticky Institute offers offer workshops on zine-making and DIY printing, cheap photocopying and zine-making tools such as typewriters and obligatory long-armed staplers and welcome visitors and zine-makers from 1 2pm to 5pm, Tuesdays to Saturdays.

Sticky Institute is supported by the City of Melbourne Arts Grants. •