Private view of the Lines in the Sand exhibition. Photo © Kasia Kowalska

Three exhibitions were held at the Herne Bay Cartoon Festival this year. Private views for two of those took place on 1 August, the day before the festival’s main live-drawing event. Photos by Kasia Kowalska and Gerard Whyman.

Photo © Gerard Whyman

The Independent’s Dave Brown with his work. Photo © Kasia Kowalska

Lines in the Sand, the main festival exhibition, featured work by more than 50 artists. There were cartoons on the subjects of seaside and surrealism, as is usual at Herne Bay, plus there was a room dedicated to cartoons on the fallout from the Charlie Hebdo massacre in January. The book Draw the Line Here was on sale at the exhibition.

There were lines drawn on the wall at the Lines in the Sand viewing. Here are cartoonists Nathan Ariss and Tim Sanders in action. Photos © Kasia Kowalska

There was also a viewing of the exhibition in tribute to the late Martin Honeysett at the Bay Art Gallery. That was opened by Sir Roger Gale, the Herne Bay MP.

Sir Roger Gale opened the exhibition of Martin Honeysett cartoons. Photo © Kasia Kowalska

One of Honeysett’s timelessly brilliant cartoons. Photo © Gerard Whyman

Sir Roger Gale with Steve Coombes, one of the festival organisers, and Penny Precious, Martin Honeysett’s widow, who curated the exhibition. Photo © Kasia Kowalska

On the previous evening there was a viewing of Outrage! A brief history of offensive cartoons, the third festival exhibition, held at the Seaside Museum. It featured work from the British Cartoon Archive in Canterbury. But there was also a never-before-seen Ralph Steadman, his response to the Charlie Hebdo massacre.

Steve Coombes at the Outrage! exhibition with Ralph Steadman’s cartoon. Photo © Steve Coombes

As if all this wasn’t enough, for the first time this year the festival has a fringe exhibition! The One New Street gallery showed a small exhibition called Not Just Cartoons, featuring Glenn Marshall, Ingram Pinn and others.

Promotional mug at the One New Street Gallery, featuring Glenn Marshall. Photo © Kasia Kowalska