Mandel Fan Fest set for May 24 at Mandel Public Library; free, family-friendly event highlights local creators and the library’s tech lab

Mandel Fan Fest will be held May 24 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Mandel Public Library in West Palm Beach, Eric Marcus, manager of the Technology and Innovation Center at the Mandel Public Library, said in a City Center podcast interview.

Marcus described the event as “basically a mini comic con,” saying it will bring vendors, panelists and family activities to the library’s public spaces. “The Mandel Fan Fest is gonna be May 24, 12 to 4, a 1 day, just a very concentrated event. It's basically a mini comic con,” Marcus said.

The festival will feature five scheduled panelists, local artists and hands-on activities aimed at creators and fans alike. Marcus said attendees can expect photo opportunities with a Star Wars costuming group described in the interview as the “500 and first,” panels on Disney planning and pin trading, sculpture demonstrations, a session on worldbuilding, and a Screenwriting 101 workshop. Named presenters in the interview included “Disney Nikki” on Disney topics; Freddy, a local sculptor; Sarah, who will lead worldbuilding discussion; Derek, who will present on screenwriting; and May O’Malley, affiliated with Artlife and Sibile's projects.

Marcus also used the interview to highlight the library’s Technology and Innovation Center, a public lab the library calls the TIC. “Everything that I ever used in the art school…is in the TIC for free for people to use,” Marcus said, listing hardware and software resources available to cardholders, including Creative Suite, Toon Boom, Blender (and Maya), audio tools such as Ableton and Audacity, a 3‑D printer and 3‑D scanning capabilities. He said the TIC supports digital painting, 3‑D sculpting and printing, animation, sound recording and mixing, and other digital arts work.

Admission to Mandel Fan Fest is free; Marcus said library card registration is required to use certain TIC resources. The event website listed in the interview is wpb.org/mandelfanfest, which the library is using to post artist and vendor information and photos from a smaller trial event held previously.

The interview framed the festival as both a community celebration of fandom and an outreach effort to connect aspiring creators with tools and instruction. Marcus said the event is intended to be welcoming to all ages and to inspire people who want to pursue creative projects but lack equipment or training. “If you're an artist…you can get to that point alone,” he said of the TIC, noting that the space and software are provided free to library cardholders.

No formal municipal actions, votes or funding decisions were discussed in the podcast interview. The discussion focused on event programming and public access to library resources.

For more information, including a schedule of panels and a list of participating artists, the library’s event page is wpb.org/mandelfanfest.