The Royal Academy of Illustration & Design, or more succinctly RAID, is an artist collective and creative agency located in Toronto’s historic Parkdale neighbourhood whose primary focus is creative concepts, idea development, and visual solutions — involving illustration, design, and sequential art.
Being Canada’s premier sequential arts studio and long-time ambassador of the Toronto comic scene, RAID felt it their honourable civic duty to step up and throw a party to bring together our expansive creative community. The RAID Social was created to welcome the creative guests and celebrities of FAN EXPO CANADA, the third largest pop culture expo in North America, with a total attendance of 125,000+ over the course of a four-day weekend. Since its inception, the attendance has quickly grown to include individuals from related creative and media industries, pushing The RAID social into becoming a hub networking event for Toronto’s creative industries to mingle with each other, global guest writers, artists, actors, and celebrities.
2023 sees RAID chime in it’s 21st year, along with the reincarnation of The RAID Social after the restrictions of the global COVID-19 pandemic. As the years progress, we are excited to better connect the local and global creative community with the growth of The RAID Social and support of its partners.