It was devised and produced by Kev F. Sutherland[1] with the help of Mike Allwood of Area 51 Comics.
Charity auctions were held every year at the festival, first for Comic Relief and then for the benefit of ChildLine.
By 1999, the comics audience in the UK was in decline;[citation needed] Comic Festival's aim was to reach non-comic readers, children, and families, and to enable them to enter the event at the cheapest possible prices.
[citation needed] Once inside the convention, the audience would then be exposed to the widest range of comics material, thus building the readership of the future.
In addition to the annual Bristol-based Comic Festival, secondary events were held in London in the fall of 2003[3] and 2004.