Lucca Comics & Games
Lucca Comics & Games is the most famous and prestigious comic book festival in Italy. Every year, between the end of October and the beginning of November, the city of Lucca becomes the stage for an international fair dedicated to animation, video games, board games, role-playing games, and the fantasy and science fiction imagination. The event is known worldwide, and it hosts thousands of enthusiasts, from casual visitors to passionate cosplayers ready to parade along the historic walls and participate in parties and competitions.
Among comic book fairs, Lucca Comics & Games is considered the most important in Europe and the second in the world after Tokyo’s Comiket.
How the event is organized
Where does the Lucca Comics festival take place? The comic book festival is divided into thematic areas, meaning pavilions that house a lot of stands related to the same category: Games, Junior, Music & Cosplay, Movie, Japan Palace. The stands are scattered around various points of the city, both inside and outside the historic center. Once they have purchased their tickets, visitors can choose how many and which ones to visit according to their preferences.
Cosplay fans, in addition to parading along the streets of the city center, will have the opportunity to participate in official competitions for the Italian selections of the European Cosplay Gathering promoted by Japan Expo and the Lucca Cosplay Contest.
What draws the most fans, however, are the Italian and international guests who enrich the program each year, making the festival increasingly prestigious.
The 2024 edition
Lucca Comics & Games 2024 will take place from Wednesday, October 30, to Sunday, November 3.
The theme of this new edition is The Butterfly Effect, a tribute to the great Giacomo Puccini, structured in three acts for which the artist Sensei Yoshitaka Amano created the posters. In June, the first press conference, Ouverture, dedicated to Tosca, took place. In September, the second conference, titled Crescendo, was held. And at the end of October, there will be the Grande Finale Fantastico. On October 30, the inaugural event Concerto a Due per Puccini will take place as part of the festival’s opening night.
As always, this edition will feature many artists, publishers, authors, and creators from around the world.
In the Comics section, some of the most anticipated names include Gou Tanabe, Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki, Shintaro Kago, Baron Yoshimoto, Kim Myeongmi, Paskim and Ding Pao-Yen, Brice Cossu, Laurent Hopman and Renaud Roche, Sean and Jacob Phillips, Craig Thompson, Zoe Thorogood, Tula Lotay, and many more.
And how can we not mention some of the Italian guests? Sio, Dado, Giacomo Bevilacqua, Edo Massa, Sara Malucelli, Giancluca Costantini, Mara Famularo, and Fumettibrutti are just some of the most awaited names at the fair.
Also joining the lineup are R.L. Stine, Stuart Turton, Felicia Kingsley, Lella Costa, Matilda De Angelis, and Lorenzo Cervasio.
Unmissable events of Lucca Comics & Games 2024
Among the must-see events is Fumettibrutti’s show Tutte le mie cose belle sono rifatte (All My Beautiful Things Are Redone), taking place on October 30 at San Girolamo.
Dungeons & Dragons will celebrate its 50th anniversary in Lucca with a double space split between the Baluardo and the Casermetta of San Paolino. It will feature exhibitions, games, and works of art, and special guests like Jeremy Crawford, lead rules designer of D&D, and the artists Erol Otus and Tyler Jacobson.
This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the Music section. Celebrations will include the indie rock concert Guerrieri in Timoria on October 30, a special concert by Giorgio Vanni on November 1, the Winx Live & Cosplay Show, the K-Pop Contest, and the Anime Vocal Contest.
Regarding the section dedicated to video games, noteworthy is the stand for the new chapter in the Assassin’s Creed saga: Shadowsb, a pavilion entirely dedicated to Italian independent video game development, and the celebration of Tetris’ 40th anniversary, with the presence of its creator Alexey L. Pajitnov and Henk B. Rogers.
In the Movie section, it’s impossible to miss Hwang Dong-hyuk, director and writer, along with actors Lee Jung-jae and Wi Ha-Jun, who on October 31 will reveal worldwide news about the second season of Squid Game. Additionally, there will be a pavilion dedicated to the new film Wicked.
And finally, the exhibitions: Palazzo Ducale, among others, will host the exhibition dedicated to Francesca Ghermandi titled Il Pianeta Intergalattico. Fumetti, Disegni e Oggetti (The Intergalactic Planet: Comics, Drawings, and Objects), and the exhibition Kalimatuna: le nostre parole di libertà (Our Words of Freedom) dedicated to Takoua Ben Mohamed, Zainab Fasiki, and Deena Mohamed.
To fully enjoy the 2024 edition of Lucca Comics & Games, it’s ideal to stay in the historic center. L’Antica Bifore Guest House offers you the opportunity to fully experience the festival and move between events, pavilions, and stands. A cozy stay in a 12th-century historic building in the heart of Lucca, just steps away from all the major attractions of Italy’s biggest comic book fair.
