Five Points Festival is a brand new art-focused convention coming to New York City May 20th – 21st and PopCultHQ.com will be there reporting all of the action.
What is Five Points Festival?
“The Five Points Festival is a collision of toys, comics, and counterculture” is the easiest way to describe this event taken directly from the site. Many comic cons have become huge media events with guests and attracts that many times have little or nothing to do with actual comic books. While these events can be a lot of fun, Five Points Festival is attempting to bring the focus back to the comics and their creators focusing heavily on the art that catches our attention.
But this event is no one-trick pony, there will also be a focus on many other artforms, from gourmet food trucks and a beer garden to street art and designer toys. Indeed, the guest list boasts fifteen artists who aren’t solely about comic books and many make unique toys. Another feature is the 7th Annual Designer Toy Awards hosted by popular documentarian Morgan Spurlock, however this is a separate event included with a VIP ticket purchase. The event also has a robust vendor and artist alley. While this first year event doesn’t have any panels, it is a great way for artists to meet, socialize, admire each other’s work, and hopefully learn from their peers.
Event Highlights
Along with comics and toys, Five Points Festival celebrates artistic expression through street art by donating a mural to the Lower East Side, a project by The L.I.S.A Project NYC and NYC-born artist kaNO that is happening the week before the event. At the event, there will also be a variety of food carts as well as breweries highlighting culinary artistry. A special double IPA beer made just for the event by Sixpoint Brewery will be the crowning glory for fans 21 and over. Adult fans can also enjoy the official Saturday night after party at Bowlmor Lanes in Time Square featuring drink specials, more art and lots of cosplay.
<Valiant’s Next Stop on Convention Tour 2017 – Five Points Festival (May 20th-21st)>
Guest Highlights
Greg Capullo is a self-taught taught illustrator, working for the past five years as an artist on the New York Times best-selling highly acclaimed Batman series for DC Comics. He is presently co-creating the soon to be released Image Comics’ book titled REBORN, along with writer Mark Millar. Prior to his Batman run, he was best known for his 80 issue run on Image Comics’ Spawn. His other popular comics work includes Marvel Comics’ X-Force and Quasar. He is also the creator of The Creech, a Sci-Fi/Horror comic published by Image Comics. Greg has provided art for Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft, contributed lead character designs for the award-winning HBO animated Spawn series, and was the cover artist for many popular musical groups including Five Finger Death Punch, Korn and Disturbed.
Amy Reeder draws both mainstream and independent comics and is half of the creative force behind the Image Comics hit series Rocket Girl—a time-traveling romp about a teen cop with a jetpack. Known for her expressive characters, kinetic action, and vivid colors, Amy produces a vision that is distinctly her own, while still being easy to digest. Her work can be seen on DC Comics’ Batwoman, Supergirl and Madame Xanadu, and currently on Marvel’s new series Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur as co-writer and cover artist.
Bryan Lee O’Malley is the bestselling creator of the “Scott Pilgrim” series, which inspired the 2010 Edgar Wright film “Scott Pilgrim Vs The World.” His latest project is Image Comics series “Snotgirl.” He lives in Los Angeles and sometimes goes outside.
Simone Legno is the Co-founder and Creative Director of tokidoki. Born in Rome, Italy, Legno, drew incessantly as a child. The boxes of chewed, broken, and unsharpened pencils he adored as a kid were the beginnings of a passion for art that led to the eventual creation of tokidoki.
