Lucca is fabulous year round, with events scheduled in every season. Without a doubt, the biggest event, which occurs each year at the end of October and beginning of November, is Lucca Comics and Games (often just called “Comics”). Before I moved to Lucca, I always missed the event - mostly because every apartment is booked a year (or more) in advance, the hotels are full, and the rental prices go way up. Late October always saw me heading back to the United States.

But this year was different - because I live here now and have a long-term lease, I didn’t have to leave my apartment and was able to stay in Lucca for the big event. And big it is - some days more than 80,000 tickets to the various Comics-related events are sold and many, many more people come to Lucca without buying tickets. They come to show off their costumes - some quite simple (a bright wig, some mouse ears, or a pair of character PJs) and others astonishingly elaborate. They are here to see and be seen.

There are some definite themes to the costumes and the events. Superhero. Cartoon character. Movie and TV characters - “Star Wars” and “Harry Potter” were big this year.

Monsters, witches, and other scary characters roam the streets and an endless variety of ladies - princesses, mermaids, starlets, sex sirens, warriors - walk around town. Posing for photos is part of the fun.

Steampunk is huge - it’s a genre that blends fantasy, costume, and early Industrial Revolution chic. The Steampunk costumes are among the most elaborate;  the creativity and hours of work that go into them are amazing  Steampunk was seen throughout Comics and in a special parade - a fantastic event. 

The fun isn’t just for the adults. Whole families dress in costumes, right down to babies in strollers. And the kids love encountering their favorite superheroes, who are more than happy to pose with them.

As a first-time Comics attendee, I found some of the events outside of my frame of reference (I don’t know a thing about video games and most of the animation, movies, and cartoons were foreign to me) and the crowds were intense for such a small city.  But I loved the energy, mix of people and nationalities, and, above all, the costumes. This was a photographer’s dream!  -post by Joannne