Poster image for CAKE 2026.

2026 poster by Bianca Xunise (Table 406B)

CAKE 2026

Saturday, May 2, 11:00 - 6:00 PM
Sunday, May 3, 11:00 - 5:00 PM

The Irish American Heritage Center

4626 N. Knox Ave.
Chicago, IL 60630

Masks strongly encouraged!
Community Care Protocols (Including COVID-19 Considerations) here


Cupcake Award Minicomic Release Party

Friday, May 1, 6:30 - 8:00 PM @ Skunk Cabbage BooksClick here for details
Join us for our inaugural comics reading event celebrating the 2025 Cupcake Award Winner: Mili St. John debuting, And Up!, They Sprung!


Thank you to our sponsors!

Community Care Protocols

Attendees at any CAKE-sponsored event are strongly encouraged to wear well-fitting face coverings, frequently sanitize their hands, and monitor their health in order to care for all members of our community. CAKE provides masks and hand sanitizer at our annual show to help folks align with these protocols while attending. Additionally, we strongly recommend and encourage that all those in attendance remain up to date on their COVID-19 and other vaccinations. We appreciate your help to make everyone feel safe and comfortable at our show!

Safer Spaces Policy

CAKE does not discriminate against any person with respect to race, color, sex, gender identity, age, religion, disability, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, military discharge status, or source of income. CAKE is a safe space: actions or merchandise that are considered hateful or that make any attendee, staff member, or exhibitor feel unsafe will not be tolerated. CAKE reserves the right to remove any party from our events. Participants agree to not hold CAKE, its staff, or the venue responsible for any lost, stolen, or damaged merchandise. The CAKE safer space policy is intended to make our event a supportive, nonthreatening, and safe environment. If you experience harassment, abuse, assault, or any other kind of violation of our policy during any CAKE-sponsored event, or if for any other reason you need support, please notify CAKE organizers or CAKE staff; our on-call exhibitor services team will help resolve the situation. 

Additional thanks to…

CAKE would like to extend our gratitude to the Irish American Heritage Center for hosting our show and providing support throughout the planning process. Thank you IAHC!

Huge thanks to this year’s Organizers, Coordinators, and Show Volunteers!

Organizers: Kevin Budnik, Chris Lopez, Matt McCormick, Simon Morrow, Alex O’Keefe, Andrea Pearson, & Parish Turner

 Coordinators: Aaliyah Lachel’e, Addie Grosse, Gus Kelsey, Kat Park, Leo Mancini, and Stephen Winchell

Programs printed by Print Ninja

Badges & posters printed by Minuteman Press

Buttons provided by Busy Beaver Button Co.

CAKE 2026 art by the wonderful Bianca Xunise (table 406B)