It started on the train ride out to the Tuscan town of Lucca. A few high school age teens boarded in imaginative costumes. Arriving in Lucca, we encountered more people in costume and we still had no clue. It was early afternoon and rainy, and the costumed people were prevalent but not teeming throngs. That took a bit longer. We opted to walk the top of Lucca's medieval wall, a beautiful, flat stroll of under 3 miles and it was in the course of doing so that we realized what we'd come across: Day 2 of the 5-day Lucca Comix & Games festival, Europe's oldest and largest such comics and gaming festival, an event that attracted upwards of 250,000 people in 2016. The attraction of America's smaller equivalent, Comic-Con, has fully escaped me but here in this open-air fest where 98% of the fun is free of charge I suddenly got it. These people of all ages just wanted to dress up like (insert anything here) and have fun. Observing all of them and participating where possible is super fun too; a feast for the eyes. All over the wall and down below in the town, activities related to the festival take place: Booths with purchasable goods, make-up artists who'll give you the full zombie effect, live music, and experiences that emulate your favorite games. There's sites where full scale Call of Duty scenes are played out on a grand scale throughout the day. There's a Zombie March through town. There's a city bus outfitted with such remarkable special effects that, walking through it, you'll be certain some very terrible things took place on board (that's before the zombie chases you). There's even some fascinatingly odd game show where people who answer incorrectly are splattered with tomatoes before having to leap off a platform, dashing their hopes of winning. As a viewer, I found the whole experience to be remarkably fun. It livened up Lucca in a way that was inauthentic for an ancient city but for me it made the experience richer and more memorable. Arrive by train, walk along the wall, then invade the town and you'll suddenly become part of it all. As I waited on the train platform in early evening, for the ride back to Florence, a gentleman in full anime costume informed me that things truly get rich on the weekend. If I thought there were a lot of people there on a rainy Thursday, I'd be amazed at what happens come Saturday. Part of me wished I'd returned. With hundreds of stands, exhibitions, games, and reenactments spread out over the walled city along with thousands of cosplay participants, it might seem like this event is only for true fans. Nothing could be further from the truth. This event is for everyone of all ages to enjoy, including clueless spectators such as myself, who innocently stumble upon it and suddenly (finally?) understand it. read more

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