Comic festival kicks off in St Petersburg

A festival of comics has opened in St Petersburg featuring illustrators and writers from around the world including Tom Gauld, a former Time Out cartoonist. The festival, which launched in 2007, will host exhibitions of comic art, performances, talks, film screenings and master classes as well as a book fair.

Other comic artists to participate include Toronto-based Russian illustrator Oleg Tischenkov, Pascal Rabaté from France and British artist Jon McNaught whose has contributed to numerous publications including the New York Times and the London Review of Books. The festival runs until 13 October.