Lucca Comics & Games 2025 has unveiled its 2025 program, and this year, the show will feature comics, games, music, an homage to France and everything in between.
Presented earlier today, the next edition of the cultural festival emphasizes Lucca’s artistic heritage and ongoing influence on global creativity. The 2025 theme draws inspiration from the Institut Français and its three guiding principles—freedom, creativity and diversity—which echo the ideals of the French Revolution. These values align closely with Lucca Comics & Games’ own foundation of community, inclusion, discovery, respect and gratitude.
Revealed back in July, the festival’s theme this year is “French Kiss,” and their first poster by French illustrator Rébecca Dautremer puts that theme on display, with the festival portraying a kiss as “a narrative detonator.” The “French Kiss” is a personal, consensual gesture between people that spans generations, utilizing an intimate interaction as a cornerstone for creative expression and storytelling.
This shared experience has become a staple of every pop narrative—from cinema to fantasy literature and graphic novels—so Lucca Comics & Games uses that same sense of intimacy to highlight how deeply the festival is connected to culture itself. Below are all the program details and everything coming to this year’s massive celebration of pop culture.
Lucca Comics & Games 2025 – Comics & Games
- COAMIX Inc., the first Japanese publisher to officially participate in Lucca, arrives with two major initiatives: a monographic exhibition dedicated to Tetsuo Hara (the legendary author of Fist of the North Star) and a dedicated pavilion in Japan Town.
- Akemi Takada (the celebrated designer of Orange Road and Patlabor) will serve as the “Godmother of Japan Town,” with exhibitions, signings, and exclusive art created for Lucca Comics & Games 2025.
- The Artist in Residence for 2025 is Rébecca Dautremer (the same one who created the French Kiss key poster for the festival), and the artist will create and work live in her studio at Palazzo Guinigi, offering fans a closer view of her creative process at Lucca Comics & Games 2025
- Kevin Eastman: A Twisted Ronin Ninja offers a retrospective of the co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
- Lucca Comics & Games 2025 is celebrating a few anniversaries in the game space this year, with Dungeons & Dragons “Red Box” 40th Anniversary. Lucca will celebrate with a special Lucca Bacia il Cielo campaign, with characters inspired by Rébecca Dautremer.
- Star names in fantasy art are attending, and those include Seb McKinnon, Jesper Eising, Tyler Jacobson, Karl Kopinski, Ciruelo, and Alberto Dal Lago. There will be opportunities to meet these artists at the festival as well.
- Matthew Mercer and Marisha Ray, the faces of Critical Role, will make their Lucca Comics & Games debut and they will present Daggerheart, their new RPG.
- A massive LEGO brick diorama of Lucca’s historic center by Riccardo Zangelmi will be on display, and interactive zones dedicated to Star Wars, One Piece, and Minecraft will be included.
Lucca Comics & Games 2025 – Video Games and Film
- Lucca Comics & Games is going all-in on video games in 2025, with the Death Stranding 2: On The Beach World Tour making the Lucca festival its last stop. Hideo Kojima himself will be present at Lucca this year. John Romero (the creator of DOOM and Quake) will also be present and will join Keiichiro Toyama (Silent Hill, Siren) for talks on innovation and horror in video games.
- poncle and Luca Galante will be on hand to present an immersive Vampire Survivors experience at Casa Del Poia.
- Samsung will be hosting the world premiere of Riot Games’ fighter 2XKO, along with exclusive Valorant content.
- Netflix will unveil the fifth and final season of Stranger Things (before release) with stars from the hit show: Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, and the showrunners, the Duffer Brothers in attendance.
- Prime Video brings The Traitors Italia and the cult success Hazbin Hotel, with the Italian dubbing cast to Lucca Comics & Games.
- Crunchyroll will host exclusive anime screenings and panels with Kei Urana, Hideyoshi Andou, and voice actress Rie Takahashi.
Beyond the highlights mentioned above, Lucca Comics & Games 2025 stands as a celebration of creativity—an event where generations come together to play, connect and share cultures through a common language of imagination. The festival will run from October 29 to November 2 across the historic city of Lucca. Fans can find more details, including ticketing information, on the official website.
