Fridayfest - Weekly Drawing Drop-In

FridayFest was started by artist Elida Maiques with the support of Mermaid, during her time as Mermaid's TRANSFORM associate artist.

Fridayfest is a weekly drawing gathering at Mermaid Arts Centre, based on the ethos of Patraix Festival, the drawing practice she co-founded with her brother.
This is a fun, relaxed session, where everybody is welcome. It is not a class, but an opportunity to draw, chat or even write in a friendly environment.

After 2 years and a half as a facilitated session, Fridayfest is currently a self-organised weekly drawing session, run by participants for participants. Bring your favourite pencils and paper. This session is ideal for those looking for a bit of relaxed art-making, those who have a drawing project and would welcome progressing in company, and those who say they cannot draw are the most welcome of all!

"My brother Alex and I first started the festival (under the name of our neighbourhood, Patraix) in 1999,” Elida explains. “We wanted to draw comics, but couldn't. So we gave ourselves a weekly deadline to produce anything, once a week. By the end of the year we had hundreds of comics by tens of people. We made them into a little book."

*Fridayfest is currently based in the café area in Mermaid. Participants are kindly requested to support Críoch Café, just get a cuppa and start drawing!

NB: Please note that artists younger that 18 must be accompanied by an adult.