International Festival of Comics and Games in Łódź

The tradition & historical record

The International Festival of Comics and Games is an international festival of comics and video games held annually in Łódź, considered the largest event dedicated to this subject in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe. The festival's themes encompass comics in a broad sense, other types of sequential graphic novels, and interactive electronic media. The event program includes meetings with creators, illustrators, set designers, game and comic publishers, gaming tournaments, workshops, exhibitions, and an international short comic book competition. The festival grounds also include a trade fair area, where visitors can find comics from around the world, books, and professional equipment for creators. ¹

In the beginning, the festival was called the Convention of Comic Creators. The first one was held on 2 February 1991, in Kielce. All subsequent ones were held in Łódź. The name of the event was changed to International Festival of Comics in 1999, during the tenth edition. In 2008 the "and Games" was added to the name, as the event embraced the area of computer games. The Festival's special guests included Grzegorz Rosiński, Simon Bisley, Akira Yamaoka, Brian Azzarello, Eduardo Risso, Jim Lee, Stan Sakai, Marvano, Pat Mills, Clint Langley, Milo Manara, Jean Giraud, Tanino Liberatore, Zbigniew Kasprzak, Karel Saudek, Henryk Chmielewski, Tadeusz Baranowski, Janusz Christa, Bogusław Polch, Szarlota Pawel, Bohdan Butenko and Norm Breyfogle among many other international and local comic creators. Each festival features workshops for cartoonists and screenwriters, led by experienced artists and experts. Lectures on comics, graphic novels and related fields, such as film and fantasy, as well as meetings with comic book creators and publishers, are also held. The festival also features a comic book fair, featuring booths from private collectors, publishers, and independent comic book publishers. The festival directors are Adam Radoń and Piotr Kasiński. ¹

The festival takes place annually in Łódź, in autumn (in September or October), at several locations. The main festival venue is the Atlas Arena and the adjacent Łódź Sport Arena. Exhibitions and selected accompanying events take place at the EC1 Centre for Comics and Interactive Narrative. The 36th edition of the festival in 2025 will also be held at the Władysław Król Municipal Stadium. ¹

The festival program includes numerous events – workshops, meetings, presentations, interactive zones, and trade fairs – that form the main thematic zones. These include: ¹

The comics zone includes author meetings, practical workshops, lectures and panels, retrospective exhibitions, and activities dedicated to fans of independent comics and Polish comics. The program features renowned international comics and graphic novel creators, as well as a wide range of domestic creators. It organizes outreach events and meetings with comics researchers, cartoonists and writers, publishers, and experts in the field. During sessions devoted to comics research, experts in the field participate in panel discussions and deliver lectures. The comics zone includes booths and events aimed at fans and connoisseurs of Japanese comics – manga and anime. ¹

Festival guests can enjoy dozens of games and interactive attractions, including both classics and new gaming offerings. The section dedicated to gaming history showcases working historical computers and consoles, such as the Amiga, Atari, Commodore, and Sega, as well as other personal computers from the late 1980s and early 1990s. Festival attendees can participate in LAN parties featuring online games from years past. Special events are also organized, such as a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the PlayStation console. In the Nintendo Zone, guests can play new titles on the Nintendo Switch, and in the VR Zone one can experience virtual reality, for instance, a tour of a digital comic book artist's studio. For independent game enthusiasts, organisers showcase productions created by small teams. A prototype zone allows visitors to test games in development and talk to their creators. In a space dedicated to League of Legends, visitors can meet the game's champions, view props, and play themed board games. Meetings with game developers and journalists are also organized, discussing the behind-the-scenes aspects of game design, narrative in games, and the independent creative scene. The gaming zone includes areas dedicated to board games: the "unplugged gaming zone." Participants can participate in role-playing game sessions based on various systems, such as Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, and others. Invited guests—board game creators, publishers, and designers – meet fans, discuss new releases, and answer audience questions. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “International Festival of Comics and Games”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

International Festival of Comics and Games in Łódź is annual festival of comic art and video games in Łódź, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 4 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²