After a five-year hiatus, Fort Worth Zine Fest is back this Sat, Oct 17. For the uninitiated, zines are self-published magazines printed and shared by activists, artists, musicians, and others in underground scenes, giving voice to marginalized groups. This celebrates that. The festival includes free art workshops, community presentations, and film screenings across three rooms at Southside Preservation Hall (1519 Lipscomb St, Fort Worth, 817-926-2800), this year’s Critic’s Choice for Best Entertainment Spot in Best Of 2026.
Main Ballroom
From noon to 6pm, visit with 36 local “zinesters” (print artists) and hear music by DJ 0RBIS9 (3pm-5pm) and DJ Chineseknees (12:30pm-3pm). This is also where the eats and drinks live. Ostara Coffee & Matcha will be stationed there all day.
The Salon
In the middle room, you will find local art and education workshops. Learn about bookbinding (12:30pm-1:15pm), riso misprint journals (1:30pm-2:15pm), and collaging (2:30pm-3:30pm), then there’s the Zine Club Drawing Jam (3:30pm-4:30pm). Plus, there is a special kids’ table with activities throughout the day.
Courtesy SurvivingWithoutRent.com
Rose Chapel
This space will act as a movie room for all the films. The day opens at 12:30pm with a special presentation called Zines by Political Prisoners, followed by a 1:30pm screening of the documentary A Place We Can Go (2026) about the DIY scene in North Texas featuring 1919 Hemphill (“Focus on 1919 Hemphill,” Aug 12, 2026).
Then at 2:30pm, attend The Corner Orchard: A Presentation on the community garden in Stop Six, followed by a 3:30pm screening of two short films, Survival Without Rent (2025), on how a zine helped squatters in the 1970s, and Pretty Vacant (1996), a coming-of-age story about a young Latina feminist who expresses herself through her love of music and zines. Finally, at 4:45pm, you can attend Collective Processing: A Grief Workshop for 2026.
From 8pm to midnight, South Barbershop (121 S Main St, Ste 3, Fort Worth, 817-380-8117) is hosting an after-party with music by Luke Chacko, Nip Slip, Puppy Mill, and more. For more information about all of the above, go to Linktr.ee/fortworthzinefest.
