StationeryFest 2025: Event Coverage from the UK's Biggest Stationary Convention
Coverage of the largest stationery show in the UK, held in Wigan this year.
It’s that time of year again. StationeryFest. This is the gathering of all the country’s creative nerds and beyond, to a stationery convention. It’s on the surface, something that sounds ludicrous at first. How can people be so interested in looking at 62 different types of basically the same pen?!
But look closer. And what you’ll find, is a bunch of artists, writers, calligraphers, and almost certainly the country’s future historians that are all afforded the opportunity to test out different kinds of writing equipment.
There’s planners! PlannerFest is a whole other convention in the same building! There’s also JournalFest which again, happens at the same time, but quite frankly there is so much in StationeryFest that it alone deserves an article.
This year, it was hosted in Wigan’s convention centre, The Edge. Which is what Northern drove me to when I tried to get there. Unfortunately, Northern is incapable of running a train schedule which will allow for if staff want to spend a few more minutes having a piss, to not jam up the entire network as it currently seems to happen.
Thankfully, it seems that all the train delays that morning did not impact attendance one bit, with hundreds turning up to the 94 stalls that were available on that day. It’s not hard to see why this event sold out fast.
StationeryFest’s mission statement says ‘good stationery makes the world a happy place’. And it was definitely a happy place, with tons of slightly weird, alternative people walking around the place. But plenty of guys in t-shirts as well. It was a convention for all, for all are invited to StationeryFest.
I walked around and I spoke to a few stall owners who were happy to be interviewed. I think that some of their stories are fascinating to tell, and here’s a selection of a few that stood out to me the most:
This guy makes his own paper. It’s actually quite cool watching it on his Instagram, and while it felt quite delicate so I didn’t test it, I do feel it did have quite a fair bit of strength.
Unfortunately, Andrew wasn’t here today. It was indeed his co-conspirator Sean. I spoke to Sean. It was an extremely exciting event to be able to present their work, and we both shared our thoughts on the lovely, lovely atmosphere of the festival. Sean was truly an explosion of sunshine.
I particularly enjoyed looking at their little washi tapes. They were really cute.
I saw Note and Wish last year at StationeryFest 2024 (yes, I do actually go to these every year) and they’ve been going since 2017, making excellent journals and planners amongst other things that I really enjoy looking at.
I particularly enjoy the fact they pay so much attention to detail to small things, like ‘120 gsm paper’ which is quite rare to find in a high street journal. Seriously guys, I think printer paper should only be sold in that thickness; if you’re going to print something, why not go all the way?
One particular interesting fact I have been told is that it’s hard to know which items will sell at conventions such as StationeryFest and which items are really only for online distribution. Still, their selection seemed rather popular and the stall was crowded for good reason.
You’ll notice a theme with a lot of my favourite entries on this list. They all seem to trend towards a certain theme. And that theme, is analog.
At Analog Shop, it’s all about Kawco. The fountain pen manufacturer that has been going since 1883! And it’s all because of that wonderful, beautiful German engineering that continues to impress to this day.
Graham, 54, tells me how these little machines can make a DIY foundation pen. I didn’t try it, because I was scared, but he did show me a few samples of ready-made fountain pens that had come out from this machine.
People like vintage, analog, mechanical, and tacile things, I’ve been told. And I think he was right. People do love actually having things that they can touch. That they can hold. Unlike the little pixels on the screen that always go away eventually when you turn the machine off.
Fountain pens aren’t really my thing, but I can truly appreciate this kind of expert knowledge and listening to someone truly passionate and nervous around the subject was really fun.
And finally, the Invisible Illness Club. They sell very cute pins and badges on the themes of physical and mental health.
The vendors describe this as being their sort of own therapy, and by expressing their illness into art, and being able to show that, is a way of healing from the trauma of having an illness.
As someone who has gone through similar but yet totally different struggles, I can relate to this attitude and I think it is commendable, and I think that everyone would benefit from a little bit more art in their lives, and Invisible Illness Club is about empowering people to do exactly that.
It hits 4pm, and despite a very long day, the vendors are still restocking their goods. But I’m all out of spoons, and it’s time to go home.
I absolutely loved my day out to StationeryFest. I enjoyed just how many people were into the same thing as me, stationery. And I hope that StationeryFest 2026 is even better than 2025. Here’s hoping.
