Anonymous collective launches free zine exploring the good and the bad of Preston

Pressed Town Zine edition one — The first edition of Pressed Town Zine went out in spring

An anonymous collective has launched a new free zine about Preston.

The group of volunteers, whose identity is only to represent and showcase artists in Preston, have so far produced two issues of Pressed Town Zine.

Each edition is split into one positive theme and one negative theme, with the aim of giving a balanced view of life in the city.

Speaking to Blog Preston, one of the nameless artists said: “We care about Preston and we want to see it prosper, but we’re also very aware of the fatalism this northern town feels. Many of the students who pass through refer to it as (De)Preston. We wanted to do something about that.

“The idea is to share and celebrate people of Preston who are doing things to make it better, more beautiful, grow. Whilst also acknowledging that there are aspects of Preston in dire need of change and repair.”

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The zine is distributed via local venues plus random drops around the city that are shared to Instagram stories.

Anyone from or living in Preston is invited to share content for the zine in any format, be it a story, a photo, an event, a doodle, or something else.

The artist added: “We’re not sure where this will go but the feedback so far has been phenomenal and it’s such a lovely project to work on.”

To find out more, follow @pressedtown on Instagram.

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This story was made possible by support from you, our readers, and a host of organisations in the city, through our Crowdfund Lancashire appeal, which unlocked support from the Lancashire Culture and Sport Fund provided by Lancashire County Council. You can see all our coverage and, if you know of an arts project or event in the city we should be covering, send details to contactus@blogpreston.co.uk.