Local Focus: What's in a zine? Find out on Saturday in Palmerston North

Zine-fests are hugely popular events drawing in crowds wherever they pop up.

Last weekend, Whanganui hosted its first zine-fest in decades and organisers Abby Stewert and Maia-Jeanne McAllister are taking the show to Palmerston North this weekend, for only the second time.

But what exactly is a zine?

"A zine is a home-made magazine that can be about anything and by anyone and of any size and of any number of pages," McAllister said. "Essentially if you ask 'is this a zine?' the answer's probably 'yes', except if it's formally published in which case it's 'formally published'."

Making a zine can take days though it's more likely to take weeks or months, and sometimes it can take years. So while they can be wildly popular, zine production is definitely not a money making venture. In fact the whole idea is so not about price.

"We recommend around $0 to $5," McAllister said. "But if you put a lot of effort in you can justify more. But anything more than $15 may be pricing people out and maybe worth looking at more professional avenues."

While making millions is unlikely, a zine can be a creative outlet for professionals or a stepping stone for budding writers and designers.

Whanganui Library has got behind the concept and has bought many local zines.

"They want to keep doing that every year, buying them and having workshops, eventually getting the collection really rolling, which is really, really cool," McAllister said.

The Palmy Zine-fest is this Saturday at the Palmerston North Public Library.

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