The Pegaso d’oro, the highest recognition of the Tuscany Region, was awarded this morning by President Eugenio Giani at Lucca Comics&Gamses, the international fair dedicated to comics, animation, games, video games and fantasy and science fiction imagery that has been held in Lucca since 1993 between the end of October and the beginning of November.
Emanuele Vietina, general director of Lucca Comics & Games, collected the Pegasus on behalf of all those who contribute with their work to the realization of the event, during a warm ceremony attended by the regional councilor Stefano Baccelli, the chief of staff of the president Giani, Cristina Manetti, the mayor of Lucca Mario Pardini and the president of Lucca Crea, Nicola Lucchesi.
“Lucca Comics&Games is the contemporary cultural and artistic expression event that has given Tuscany the most satisfaction – said President Giani – The most important Italian event in the sector, first in Europe and second in the world after Comiket in Tokyo, last year sold 320 thousand tickets and saw the presence of over 700 thousand people between Lucca and the territory that goes from Montecatini to Versilia. It therefore represents a source of pride for Tuscany because it has made Lucca a city that has also been able to reinterpret its artistic beauties, attracting thousands of tourists and enthusiasts of the sector. Our Golden Pegasus goes to the merit of this event and for what it has been able to create: culture, art, tourism, job opportunities especially for young people, renewing the image of Tuscany over the years”.
“The Pegasus at Comics – said Councilor Baccelli – is an honor and recognition of a very far-sighted choice that Mayor Martinelli made in 1966. Let’s think about what it could have meant 60 years ago to imagine Lucca as a city of comics. I am one of those who grew up with Comics, so many are the memories that tie me to comics in my city: the ‘ball’ in Piazza Grande, the exhibitions during the sorties. Back then it was an innovative cultural project, the result of an extraordinary vision. Today Comics have grown, to the point of becoming, I believe, the Italian and European event with the greatest participation of young enthusiasts, a colorful army that peacefully occupies Lucca every year. A well-deserved award that Tuscany is proud of”.
“This is another stage in a fantastic story – said Emanuele Vietina – made up of hundreds of people who have followed one another in sixty years of history. This recognition goes to all of them. A community, which lives and has lived collectively, happily flapping its colorful wings.”
Lucca Comics & Games, now in its 58th edition, has grown and developed over the years, registering, from 30 thousand attendances in 1993, over 320 thousand in the last edition.
