As its name suggests, the festival focuses on comics , cartoons , gaming and pop culture in general. With its , visitors [ 1 ] it is one of the largest comic festivals in Italy , especially in the South. Etna Comics was inaugurated in aiming to create a place where fans of comic books living souther than Naples could meet. Not only this result was fully accomplished, but the festival was an immediate success, [ 6 ] becoming almost instantly an important national and international event, attracting domestic and global stars like Rutger Hauer , Matt Dillon , Giancarlo Esposito , Dario Argento and others.
Since its first edition, the festival has kept improving and expanding in dimensions and attendance. Whereas the first and the second edition took place in just one building of Le Ciminiere , from on the festival expanded to the entire venue, outdoor areas included, taking place in a total area larger than 45, square meters on many levels.
Its location, in front of the sea yet right in the city center, is well serverd by public transport: the central railway station , the central bus station and Giovanni XXIII Metro Station of the Catania Metro are at a very small, walkable distance. From on, a 1, square meters tensile structure is set up in front of the convention center, increasing the area of the festival and hosting the board games section. The latter one was meant to be an offshoot of the festival right in the heart of the historic center of town: installation art , shows and food stalls were arranged in Villa Pacini , a small historic park near Piazza Duomo , during the days of the main convention.
For a small period of time Etna Comics had its own official comic books shop and coffee shop in a small galleria commerciale near Le Ciminiere ; this shop is now closed. Skipping and due to sanitary restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic , the festival came back in The poster of this edition pictured a phoenix over the Latin motto Melior de cinere surgo I rise from my ashes in a better state than before : this refers to the phoenix sculpted in the Porta Garibaldi and it is an allegory for the city of Catania rebuilt several times after eruptions from Mount Etna and earthquakes , for the human spirit prevailng over adversity, and for the festival coming back after a two-year stop.
The edition marks the tenth anniversary of the festival. For the occasion, Etna Comics inaugurated a new section called Taboocom about adult comics and erotism in art and pop culture; the new section is meant to explore topics like freedom and sexuality , or women's rights. Etna Comics usually takes place at the beginning of June and lasts about five days. Day tickets or full event passes are available to buy online or at the ticket office.
