Lucca Comics & Games is a massive festival in Lucca, Tuscany, that celebrates everything from fantasy to tabletop to gaming to comics and more. This year, the festival has areas hosted by massive, well-known companies like Crunchyroll, Netflix, Funko, Hasbro, Riot Games, Prime Video, and more. But it’s not enough to slap a name on a banner. We wanted to look into what events are happening at Lucca Comics & Games between November 1st and November 5th this year.
The festival is celebrating its 30th anniversary in the gaming sector but has almost 60 years of history across other mediums. This year’s theme is “Together”. Last year, Lucca brought in 319,000 people, so they definitely know a thing or two about bringing people together.
What to See at Lucca Comics & Games 2023:
30 Years of Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering was launched in August 1993, which means this year at Lucca Comics & Games, they will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of MTG alongside Lucca Games. The CEO of Wizards of the Coast, Peter Adkison, will be in attendance to present the Italian premiere of Igniting the Spark, The Story of Magic: The Gathering, a documentary about MTG from Cavegirl Productions.
For Magic fans, there will also be an exhibition at Palazzo Arnolfini and Magic Alley, which will bring more than 16 Magic: The Gathering artists to Lucca Comics & Games to celebrate 30 years of the trading card game. According to a press release, these include “Adam Paquette, Andrea Piparo, Jeff Laubenstein, Jesper Ejsing, Johan Grenier, Justine Jones, Marta Nael, Martina Fačková, Michele Giorgi, Mark Zug, Mila Pesic, Randy Vargas, Richard Kane-Ferguson, RK Post, Seb McKinnon, Svetlin Velinov, Milivoj Ćeran and Tony DiTerlizzi.”
Netflix Premieres
In Piazza Anfiteatro, Netflix will be hosting their own space where attendees will be able to “immerse themselves in their best-loved series.” Here, people will be able to check out the first two episodes of SUBURRÆTERNA, a new series to Netflix in the Suburra universe. Actor Giacomo Ferrara, who plays Spadino in the series, will be there to meet fans before the show’s November 14th release.
Netflix will also be presenting the first episode of All the Light We Cannot See—which also showed at TIFF 2023— from Director Shawn Levy, who is behind things like Stranger Things and Deadpool 3. The show packs a punch with its cast, including Aria Mia Loberti, Nell Sutton, Mark Ruffalo and Hugh Laurie—no, they won’t be in attendance. All the Light We Cannot See comes to Netflix on November 2nd, 2023.
Joe Manganiello and Dungeons & Dragons
For those of you who don’t know, Joe Manganiello (True Blood, Magic Mike) is a huge nerd like the rest of us, much like Henry Cavill. Lucca Comics & Games Director Emanuele Vietina had this to say about the celebration, “Joe Manganiello, this year, is going to be our US international ambassador. So, there will be a big focus on roleplay games and on Joe Manganiello.”
Here is what they have in store, “Lillo will star in the main event on the stage of the Grog Live Show, which will see him and Joe Manganiello pitted against each other in an ironic encounter/clash as Grog (Lucca Games historic mascot this year designed by Karl Kopinski) and Arkhan, also known as Arkhan the Cruel, played by Joe Manganiello.”
The Citadel
If you love live-action role-playing, then The Citadel is the place for you. These events take place on the walls of Lucca. Sparring and demonstrations will take place, including courses on the Renaissance side sword, Renaissance sword and dagger and two-handed sword, based on teacher availability. These courses are free and be booked in person. Here, you will also find interactive games, shows and entertainment for the duration of the festival.
You can find out more about The Citadel programming here.
The Premiere of Star Wars Unlimted
The premiere presentation of Star Wars: Unlimited will take place at Lucca Comics & Games. This will be a brand-new trading card game based in the Star Wars universe. Fantasy Flight Games is making the game, which will be ready for launch in March 2024. However, trading card fans will be able to first play it at the Carducci Pavillion in Lucca. Players who dive in at Lucca Comics & Games will also receive two exclusive Star Wars: Unlimited promo cards to keep! This is a must-do for trading card game fans!
The Carducci Pavilion
Speaking of the Carducci Pavillion, it will be home to more than 150 exhibitors during Lucca Comics & Games. Here, you will find vendors for board games, miniatures, role-playing games, trading card games and artists. What is unique is that there is also a performance area, which they call the “artist’s playground,” where fans can watch world-famous fantasy artists painting live. Not something you see every day!
All Things Tolkien
Though we are celebrating exciting anniversaries like the 30th anniversary of MTG and Lucca Games, we are also sadly celebrating the 50th anniversary of J.R.R. Tolkien’s death. Emanuele Vietina told us, “It’s the 50th anniversary of the death of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien [J. R. R. Tolkien]. So we are going to celebrate the influence of Tolkien in games and in comics—but mostly games”.
There will be an exhibition in the Fondazione Banca del Monte di Lucca called “Other Minds and Hands: JRRT50 in Time and Space.” Here, visitors will find original works by illustrator Angus McBride. There will also be special guests, “Special guest of the Tolkien celebrations will be Brian Sibley, author of texts on the Oxford Professor and Peter Jackson’s trilogies and one of the leading experts on international fantasy.”
MinaLima
MinaLima is a duo behind the world of Harry Potter. Director Emanuele Vietina was particularly excited about this exhibit. “Another very big point for this year is also the celebration of Minalima, the graphic world of Harry Potter, as being considered by Eduardo Lima and Miraphora Mina. They are the be the people behind the graphic vision of Harry Potter, so we have an exhibition in a beautiful church that, of course, is not running anymore. And so there will be a big exhibition dedicated to some props of Harry Potter created by Eduardo Lima and Miraphora Mina…the show is pretty huge.”
For any Harry Potter fans out there, you won’t want to miss this!
Video Games!
You can’t have a pop-culture festival without video games! Riot Games will be hosting Riot Stadium in the Pala Tagliate to put some of the last eSports finals on display. Here, you can watch the Red Bull Campus Clutch VALORANT finals, an eSports tournament that was only open to university students. You can always check out the VAL Off-Season tournament—the “highest national competition of VALORANT.”
Riot Stadium will also be home to the PG Nationals 2023, pitting League of Legends players against each other. This tournament will bring the best of the Italian teams to Lucca to face off in their last challenge before the end of the season. And finally, the Baolo Championship Series (BCS) is the biggest LOL tournament in Italy, where you can watch Italian content creators duke it out.]
Gaming at Lucca Comics & Games doesn’t end with eSports, though! PLAION is bringing Sonic to Italy by taking over the Casermetta San Paolino and turning it into Sonic’s home, celebrating Sonic Superstars and more. You can also find the person behind many of SEGA’s greatest achievements in the 80s and 90s, Yu Suzuki, at the festival, as well as the Assassin’s Creed Mirage Art Director, Jean-Luc Sala.
Lucca Comics & Games has something for every kind of fandom. The event is taking place all over Lucca, Tuscany, starting today! Stay tuned to CGM for more Lucca Comics & Games coverage live from Italy this week!
