Dozens of professional cartoonists were on hand to offer practical advice to the public about a range of drawing related issues from how to draw caricatures to digital cartooning. People of all ages attended the event from young children to pensioners wanting to find out more. Tim Harries, a freelance cartoonist and illustrator, said: "What's really been good about this year is the huge range of people that have come along this year. It has been incredibly busy so that's encouraging." The festival was spread over a range of venues along Broad Street but the main events and talks were held in the Broadway Cinema. Subjects for adult seminars included a talk from Dave Brown, a political cartoonist for The Independent, and one on the art of digital cartooning. There was still plenty for the children to do and a workshop held at the Galleries of Justice gave kids the chance to draw their own cartoon strip.
Another of the children's favourites was a talk from cartoonist Helen Martin, who has drawn a caricature of Prince Charles no less, and she demonstrated the art of drawing faces.
Also at that workshop was Terry Christien, a freelance cartoonist who has been in the profession for over 25 years. He commented: "The Big Grin is always good fun and everyone who takes part has a good time."
A local cartoonist and one of the organisers of the event, Peter Dredge, was also on hand to do some caricatures and offer advice "In 2001 we started with four cartoonists and the event has just grown and grown with hard work and organising." Along with the two-day a number of exhibitions are running until the end of August and these include one by 2DTV and Wallace and Gromit all in the Broadway. Pete Dredge interview >> | 
