Five Points Festival A New Evolution Of The Pop Culture Convention

NEW YORK, NY (February 1, 2017) – Clutter Magazine and LeftField Media today announced details around the inaugural Five Points Festival, a designer toy and comic art convention debuting May 20-21 in Lower Manhattan. A showcase for artists, designers, and brands focused on independent art, entertainment, and lifestyle, Five Points is presented by Midtown Comics, sponsored by Playcrafting, and built with major support from brands including Cotton Candy Machine, Kidrobot, the LISA Project, Popaganda, Super7, and Toy Tokyo. The Five Points Festival will play host to guests including Bryan Lee O’Malley, Elsa Charretier, Greg Capullo, Huck Gee, Ron English, Scott Wilkowski, Sean Gordon Murphy, and Tara McPherson.

Boutique event organizer LeftField Media is no stranger to Comic Cons – it was founded by Greg Topalian, the creator of New York Comic Con, and is home to a veteran team with experience building over 50 pop culture conventions around the planet – but Five Points isn’t like any of the wave of Comic Cons which have sprouted up recently. Replacing a model centered on celebrity appearances and autographs, the Five Points Festival puts its focus absolutely on artists and is a celebration of comic creators, designer toy makers, and the culture they create.

LeftField’s partner in Five Points is Clutter, a cornerstone of the US designer toy scene, responsible for the only English-language art toy magazine, gallery, and awards ceremony. Coming to Five Points with a wealth of relationships and an outsider’s eye, Clutter’s challenged much of the common expectations of a Comic Con and brought forward a roster of dynamic guests and very different experiences…

• Five Points will take place in Pier 36 in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Pier 36 is a modern, robust venue filled with natural light in one of NYC’s most artistic neighborhoods against the backdrop of the East River.
• The Five Points Artist Alley will bring together over 100 comic creators crossing the indie, alternative, and mainstream worlds. A gathering point for unique writers and artists, Five Points’ Artist Alley guest list already counts Amy Reeder, Annie Wu, Ben Templesmith, Brandon Montclare, Christopher Hastings, Cliff Chiang, David Gallaher, Elsa Charretier, James Tynion IV, Ivan Brandon, Joe Harris, Khary Randolph, Leslie Hung, Magdalene Visaggio, Patrick Thomas Parnell, Sean Galloway, Sean Gordon Murphy, and Tini Howard, and the Midtown Comics booth will play host to additional high profile signings with megastar names including Bryan Lee O’Malley and Greg Capullo.
• A home to the best of the designer toy world, Five Points will pull together more art toy makers and brands than any other event on the East Coast with names including Amanda Spayd, Boundless Brooklyn, Chris Ryniak, Expanded Universe with James Groman, Gary Ham, Huck Gee, Instinct Toy, Jason Freeny, Jeff Lamm, LuluBell, Martian Toys, Mighty Jaxx, Mishka, myplasticheart, The Outer Space Men, Ron English, Scott Wilkowski, Skull Toys with Punk Drunkers & Goccodo, Tara McPherson, Tenacious Toys, Tim Clarke, Rampage Toys, and Rotofugi.
• Shining a spotlight on artists working with pixels and bits, Playcrafting will present a hands-on showcase where fans can play a survey of the independent video games sculpted right in NYC.
• Creation of a permanent mural in Lower Manhattan, a larger-than-life installation in partnership with the LISA Project.
• Five Points will host a large Craft Beer Garden headlined by a selection of NYC beers. In line with its focus on artistry, the Five Points Beer Garden will offer tastes of artistic beers brewed in and around New York City, and side-by-side with craft beer, Five Points will present a Food Truck Food Court featuring a curated selection of NYC’s most acclaimed artisan food trucks.
• And Five Points will kick off with the 2017 edition of the Designer Toy Awards. The DTAs are the largest award ceremony in the art toy world and open to designers, comic creators, and fans.

“We want to shake up what Comic Con means and create a happening unlike anything experienced before,” said LeftField founder Greg Topalian. “The current Comic Con model is very successful, but we know there are audiences and artists looking for something new, and we’re excited to build this community together with Clutter and Midtown Comics.”

“Clutter is a home for artists, and our first goal is to make Five Points a home for artists, too,” said Josh Kimberg, President of Clutter. “We want Five Points to be a platform to elevate talented and amazing artists, whether they work in vinyl, pen and ink, bits, hops, or vegan tacos.”

“We believe in what Five Points is building,” said Gerry Gladston, CMO and co-owner of Midtown Comics. “With many Comic Cons across the country focused on television and film, the creators actually making comics and art are very often lost, and Five Points will be joining the few shows that give them the attention they deserve. Five Points will break new ground, and we’re proud to help build this platform to bring fans and artists together.”

Day and weekend tickets are available now on fivepointsfest.com and will be available at all Midtown Comics locations in late February. Additionally, a VIP ticket which includes extended weekend admission hours, entry to the Designer Toy Awards, and an exclusive limited edition Dunny made only for Five Points is available for a limited time on the Five Points website.

Further designer toy artists, comic creators, brands, and features will be announced over the coming weeks and months, as will details on show exclusives, parties, and special events. Prospective sponsors, exhibitors, and artists can apply now for booth or table space at fivepointsfest.com, and fans looking to learn more can sign up for the Five Points Festival’s newsletter and follow the event on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

About the Five Points Festival

The Five Points Festival is a collision of toys, comics, and counterculture curated by Clutter Magazine (cluttermagazine.com). A designer toy and comic convention in New York’s Lower East Side, Five Points is two days and nights of comic artists and writers, vinyl and plastic toys, original art, resin, plush, blind boxes, graphic novels, indie comics, blanks, minis, kaiju, Japanese vinyl, posters, prints, apparel, food trucks, and craft breweries – capped off by the 2017 Designer Toy Awards. The antidote to the average con, Five Points brings together tastemakers, misfits, and rebels with the new, retro, and infamous in a one-of-a-kind marketplace. For more, visit fivepointsfest.com.

About Clutter

Since 2004, Clutter has been the go-to destination for creatives, companies, and collectors, providing regular in-depth trend analysis directly from the vinyl frontier where fine art meets fine artifacts. The world’s premiere source for counterculture and art toy information, Clutter brings neo-pop, dark surrealist, and street artist collectible figures to our dedicated readership who rely on us to keep them informed on what they care about most. With a high-quality, free monthly print magazine, dynamic online portals, art gallery, and the first industry-established annual award ceremony, Clutter is the catalyst for a uniquely active and vocal community engaged in the serious business of work and play. For more, visit cluttermagazine.com.

About the Designer Toy Awards

The Designer Toy Awards is the leading award honoring excellence and innovation in the designer toy world, a community that after more than a decade has become a prominent and legitimate form of artistic and commercial expression as well as a leader in global trendsetting. The DTAs celebrate the best of the industry’s artists, designers, and brands and honor those involved in championing designer toys throughout the world. Members of the DTA Board select the majority of finalists and winners in each category from the nominees, however you – fans and collectors – determine finalists and, in some cases, winners by voting for the nominated work, individual, or brand you believe is the best. Each year, the DTAs bring together designer toy makers from all over the world. Established in 2011, the DTAs are presented by Clutter. For more, visit designertoyawards.com.

About LeftField Media

LeftField Media, LLC is an events company focused on developing face-to-face events in a range of communities rooted in contemporary culture and shared passion. LeftField was formed in 2014 by Greg Topalian (President, LeftField Media) and is now owned by Topalian and Clarion Events Ltd. With a keen sense of the ever-evolving needs of businesses and their consumers as well as new opportunities created by change, LeftField takes a clean slate approach to business. LeftField’s portfolio includes Play Fair (playfairny.com), a family-focused celebration of toys and play built with the Toy Industry Association; Awesome Con (awesomecon.com), Washington DC’s Comic Con; and Anime NYC (animenyc.com), a Japanese pop culture festival presented by Crunchyroll. LeftField Media is headquartered in historic South Norwalk, CT. For more, visit leftfieldmedia.com.