Lucca Comics & Games 2021: all about the upcoming festival edition, returning to be in presence after a "digital version" due to pandemic.
Many have been waiting for it, claiming it, dreaming of it, wishing for it: Lucca Comics & Games is coming back this year, for the joy of all the visitors of this spectacular trade fair!
It is no mystery the current pandemic has made impossible for a long time even to think of being able to gather so many people in one place. Lucca Comics & Games is a fair involving the whole Tuscan town, with staggering numbers of people and a torrent of fans filling the streets of Lucca and sometimes even making difficult to get around! For this reason, it was impossible to think of an event in presence last year, so Lucca Comics 2020 was mainly a digital event, with streaming appointments and the setting up of “Campfires”, i.e. comic shops all over Italy presenting exclusives and news related to the fair, allowing fans to experience, albeit on a very small scale, the joy of coming together and participating in small events.
To see the stars again
The subtitle of this year's Lucca is "A riveder le stelle" (To see the stars again), a clear tribute to the Supreme Poet, also represented on the event poster by the phenomenal illustrator Paolo Barbieri. A very appropriate phrase for this particular historical moment, fully expressing all the desire to start again that we all have inside, hoping to take no more steps backward, but only forward. Lucca Comics & Games 2021 will be held from 29 October to 1 November. Tickets have already sold out. Daily attendance has been greatly reduced compared to the "classic" editions, in fact, a daily ceiling of a maximum of 20000 tickets is spoken. In addition, unlike usual, there will be no ticket offices around the city. In order to make the event even safer, the zones will be divided into thematic areas, so that visitors will be able to crowd in as little as possible.
About the illustrator
Paolo Barbieri has been creating covers for a wide variety of books. His name is linked to writers such as Ursula K. Le Guin, George R. R. Martin, Wilbur Smith, Roberto Giacobbo and Licia Troisi. He is also responsible for a collection of illustrations related to Dante's Inferno, recently reprinted by Bonelli.
Exhibitions in Lucca 2021
The exhibitions in Lucca are traditional and usually open to the public without tickets. Due to the pandemic, however, this year the exhibitions will also be reserved for ticket holders only. The places chosen to host them are the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca and the Palazzo della Provincia.
The most prestigious exhibition is dedicated to Will Eisner – credited to be the inventor of the graphic novel concept – an essential artist for every lover of the Ninth Art. Then there will be space for Giacomo "A Panda piace" Bevilacqua, Walter Leoni and one of the most prolific couples in Italian comics: Teresa Radice and Stefano Turconi.
Lucca Comics and Amazon
For all those who didn't get tickets for the event (or just preferred not to go), all the collateral initiatives of the festival remain valid, from streaming to partnerships. The main of these is the one with Amazon, which has dedicated a special section to Lucca with dedicated offers to anime, films, TV series and gaming. You can also take part in the "Amazon Comics Awards", giving you the chance to win a €5 voucher.
