Lucca Comics & Games Diamond Edition comes to a close
Lucca Comics & Games this year welcomed 345,000 visitors to the city across five days of energy and shared passions. Over 900 guests from around the world, 800 exhibitors, more than 1,500 events and 14 exhibitions were part of the programme. On its 60th anniversary, Lucca Comics & Games reaffirms its position as one of the largest community events dedicated to pop culture in the world. Its heritage of stories, values and dreams – the Legacy of Lucca Comics & Games – has been handed over to new generations, embracing change and transformation whist safeguarding its five defining values: Community, Inclusion, Discovery, Respect, Gratitude.
Next year, the event will take place from Thursday 28 October to Monday 1 November 2027.
Highlights of the 2026 edition included a tribute to Go Nagai, the Japanese author whose creations revolutionised the world of manga and anime and indelibly marked the collective imagination of an entire generation. The “Yellow Kid – Master of Comics” award was presented to Sensei Go Nagai, “for having revolutionised the global visual imagination and left an indelible mark on entire generations. A visionary master, capable of shattering conventions, taboos, and stereotypes with brazen courage, he has explored the deepest and darkest recesses of the human soul through an unmistakable style—one in which dynamism merges with a powerful, baroque, and grotesque expressiveness. An extraordinary bridge between cultures, he has gifted us a version of the *Divine Comedy* translated into the universal language of comics, uniting Eastern tradition with the deep-seated roots of Western storytelling.
Lucca Comics & Games is already looking to the future: during the festival, an agreement was signed to establish the Foundation that will create Lucca’s International Comics Museum. The signatories were the Italian Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli, the President of the Tuscany Region Eugenio Giani and Mayor of Lucca Mario Pardini. The museum will open its doors to celebrate comics, illustration, gaming, animation, multimedia and interactive works, and every form of pop culture in the world.
The Legacy of Lucca Comics & Games continues through two projects, the exhibition Lucca Legacy: a Comics & Games story and the video game Luke & Clea – A Quest for Legacy, created to ensure that the spirit of the event does not end today but stays with its audience 365 days a year.
Staged at Palazzo Guinigi, the exhibition Lucca Legacy: a Comics and Games story will remain open to the public until 24 September 2027. The second floor of the historic Lucca palace becomes a permanent cultural platform designed to evolve over time. As in legacy games, visitors can contribute to the exhibition and leave their mark. The exhibition was developed with Milan’s POLI.design, under the scientific supervision of DISEGS – the Department of Socio-Economic, Management and Statistical Studies at “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara – and with the participation of the Bono Collection at Florence’s National Central Library. Supported by the Municipality of Lucca, with contributions from cultural partner Rai Teche, it tells the festival’s story as a living entity to explore and reshape together with its VisitAutori (visitor-authors), rather than as an archive.
Luke & Clea – A Quest for Legacy is a 16-bit pixel game that captures the history of the event, while also looking to its future: 2026 is only the beginning; a new level will be unlocked each year during the festival. Based on an idea by Emanuele Vietina, Francesco Bonturi and Sergio Algozzino, and directed and designed by Manuel Macchia (Game Director and Game Design), the game has already won over gamers and fans, entering the Top 100 most downloaded games on iOS and Android less than a week after launch and bringing the festival’s imaginative world into the online store charts.
