Kwentoon fest for creators and kids at heart

MANILA, Philippines — Over 150 artists are expected to gather and meet their fans at the much-awaited Kwentoon Fest scheduled this July 1 and 2 at the SM Megatrade Hall.

Pinoy comics and manga fans are expected to have a blast meeting artists such as Pol Medina of the highly successful Pugad Baboy, Sskait, The Little Things, and Hunghang Flashback.

But the so-called “Coachella for Pinoy Comics” also promises to be a fun and educational event for kids with animation workshops to be conducted by Mookie Tamara, who has worked on Big Hero 6: The Series, Ducktales, Oggy and the Cockroaches, and Lackadaisy.

The whole family will enjoy a session with Tristan Yuvienco, character designer for Disney, Cartoon Network and Dreamworks; Tepai Pascual of Duty Ka Ba Komiks, and Elmer Damaso of Titan Comics and Robotech who will share their insights about the creative industry as well as character design, storytelling, and manga.

About 40 new Pinoy manga issues will also be launched during the event, the product of a collaboration between Kwentoon and the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPhil) that aims to help create original intellectual property through intensive manga training from professional mentors from the Philippines and Japan.

IPOPhil and Kwentoon hope to eliminate piracy by helping provide world-class content for Filipinos.

Kwentoon, a Philippine-based digital publishing company, and IPOPhil earlier teamed up to launch the country’s first Manga Bootcamp — an online three-month training program to help aspiring manga creators learn from industry experts such as Mikey Maeda, Tristan Yuvienco, Sampay and Elmer Damaso.

IPOPhil director general Rowel S. Barba urged Filipino creators to develop their skills while also pushing them to register their works and protect their copyrights.

Outstanding works by graduates and participants of the Manga Bootcamp will be recognized. Games and toy aficionados can support Pinoy creators and sellers with affordable toys and stickers made available during the event.

Juan Diego Songco and Isabelle Songco, founders of Kwentoon, have long been advocating for online content that is not only made by and for Filipinos but also suited to younger audiences. Since 2020, Kwentoon has been conducting online trainings and events to inspire and equip local artists in creating quality content.

To join, visit Kwentoon.com and their Facebook page. Tickets to the event are P150 each, while kids 12 years and below can visit for free.