EVERETT, MARCH 12: If you’re interested in local events that benefit our area artists and community as well as real physical media, this is the event for you. And if you’re wondering “what the heck is a zine?”, you can see them for yourself at the Bayside Cafe on Marine View Drive in Everett at the Evergreen Zine Fest on Saturday, April 25th from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
In the meantime, here is a breakdown of the basic concept; a zine is a small, self-published magazine or booklet, often created by hand or digitally, that focuses on niche or unconventional topics.
A zine fest is similar to an art market. For Zine Fest, more than 25 local artists, ‘zinesters’, comic artists, photographers, and poets are coming together to sell their self-published work. Come to Bayside Cafe’s new location, and wander the aisles of zines, comics, art prints, stickers, patches, pins, and more! This is a perfect event for those interested in DIY art and crafts.
This event is organized by Evergreen Zine Union (EZU), a space for zine enthusiasts to meet and share their work. EZU was started in 2025 by Sully, otherwise known as Kaiju Cabal, a Seattleite transplant to Everett who noticed a lack of a zine scene in the community.
“There are a number of zine fests around the Puget Sound, but I couldn’t find anything like that here. Seattle, Olympia, Tacoma, and Bremerton have one – why not Everett?!” said Sully in an email interview.
If you have positive memories of the Scholastic Book Fair, that may have a very niche and specific fandom, this is the same thing only to showcase our local artists and their work. Zines can be about ANYTHING which guarantees there’s something here for everyone. AI-generated “art” is not permitted.
Bayside will be serving their full menu of vegan comfort food the entire day, with one caveat; please do not eat in the zine room – keep your fingers clean to check out all the zines.
Attendees can come anytime, stay as long as they like, and entry to the festival is free!
“So far, the response from artists and the public has been really positive and excited for something new and unique in Everett,” said Sully.
Evergreen Zine Fest asks that attendees please wear a mask which will be available for free at the door. For those that wear their own mask, they will receive a zine fest sticker for free! Each zinester or comic artist will have their own preferred payment method – cash and Venmo are the most common just in case you find the art piece you have to have.
Please note that Bayside Cafe does not have an ATM on site, so if cash is your preferred payment method, swing by the ATM first. There are four in a two block radius near the cafe.
“Zines can be good or bad art, poetry, photography and they can also teach a new skill,” said Sully. “It can be protest, advocacy, mutual aid and they can also be about a hyper-niche fandom, a story of overcoming a traumatic experience, or an aggrieved rant about crabs. All zines are good zines.”
For more info, visit evergreenzinefest.com.
