The 24 and 25 October 2026, the spaces of SiraMUSE, in Siracusa on via Santa Lucia alla Badia, hosted the first official edition of Ortigia Comics & Games. An event that brings pop culture to the heart of Ortigia, aiming to dialogue between comics, illustration, board games, role-playing games, and video games with one of the city’s most distinctive settings.
The project does not start from scratch. Following last year’s experience, which was primarily aimed at presenting and promoting the initiative, the event has returned with its first official gathering, with the ambition of creating a space dedicated to enthusiasts and local creativity.
At first glance, the impression is that you’re facing an event that has chosen to start with limited scale, focusing more on the selection of offerings and the context than on sheer quantity. A sensible choice, especially when you begin building something new. However, visiting the event revealed some reflective insights, alongside aspects that deserve to be highlighted.
A suggestive location, but with a few limitations
Choosing Ortigia means opting for a location with undeniable charm. The setting is elegant and distinctive, very different from the exhibition halls and trade fairs where such events are usually held.
The problem is that the historic centre of Siracusa offers few indoor spaces suitable for hosting a festival dedicated to nerd culture. For this first edition, the choice has fallen on SiraMUSE, the immersive multimedia museum dedicated to the stories of Siracusa. A distinctive setting that gives the event its own identity, but inevitably comes with some compromises in terms of space.
Organising an event of this kind is not easy, especially when you’re just starting out and have to strike a balance between the project’s ambitions and the available infrastructure. During my visit, however, this challenge became quite evident.
Public participation was good, and precisely this aspect highlighted how important it is to manage spaces according to the activities proposed.
The most concrete example concerns the cosplay contest.
As Kotaworld.it, I was there on Sunday afternoon thanks to a press pass, with the aim of covering the event and producing content for publication on our site and social media channels. Cosplay has always been one of the key topics of our social media activity, so attending the contest would have been an opportunity to report on another aspect of the event and help boost its visibility.
Unfortunately, it was not possible: the room was already full and I was not allowed in.
It’s an episode that left a bit of bitterness in my mouth, not only because of the inability to produce more content, but especially because it demonstrates how difficult it can be to manage a highly participatory activity within a limited space.
Perhaps nobody expected such a high turnout, and this is certainly a positive sign for the future of the event. At the same time, when an activity draws such a large crowd, it’s important to be able to anticipate adequate spaces, so that everyone can participate without finding themselves excluded.
The cosplay contest is one of the events that draws the most attention at these types of gatherings and can significantly contribute to their promotion. Precisely for this reason, I hope that in future editions there will be a solution that allows for better management of attendance, perhaps by reconsidering the organisation of the most anticipated events.
It’s not an easy thing to solve, especially given the constraints of the location, but it’s one of the aspects to work on to make the experience even more enjoyable for those who choose to participate.
Few exhibitors, but an interesting selection
Compared with last year’s zero edition, the event featured fewer booths and artists. The offering was therefore quite limited, but this does not mean that interesting proposals were missing.
Among the present realities, we found GDRealms, with a dedicated space for role-playing games, and La Tana dei Goblins di Siracusa, which animated the courtyard with a selection of board games. Several shops and various artists were also present, contributing to giving space to the worlds of illustration and comics. Above all, I want to express my praise for these, as they are expressions of a Sicily that dreams big, goes beyond local stereotypes, and reinvents itself, exploiting its own talents. Sincere congratulations to Marc0mics, Paola Fiordaliso, Simone Romano, Drawnto, Steve Clarimonde, Alessio Maggioni, Cola Owl, Alberica, BAnimate for making this edition even more interesting.
It’s a collected proposal, but as mentioned, it still allows you to meet local realities and discover some of the passions that drive the Siracusa nerd community.
Personally, I believe starting with a curated selection could have been a sensible choice, especially for a project that still needs to establish itself. Few but good, as the saying goes in these cases, matters more than the quality of the appearances and the opportunity to create meeting points.
Of course, over time it will be interesting to see whether Ortigia Comics & Games will succeed in expanding its offering, involving other exhibitors and artists. The foundations for building something interesting are there, and highlighting local realities could be one of the most effective ways to grow the event without losing its connection to the region.
The workshops: one of the event's strengths
If the exhibition spaces were relatively limited, the programme of activities offered several interesting highlights. Among the aspects worth praising are certainly the workshops and meetings that took place over the two days.
The programme aimed to engage the public through practical activities and in-depth sessions focused on various aspects of creativity.
For example, on Saturday, the focus was on animation, with a workshop organised in collaboration with the MADE Program – Accademia di Belle Arti “Rosario Gagliardi” di Siracusa and FallingHorse Studio. Space was also given to comics, with the workshop Mondi Disegnati curated by Marc0mics e Paola Fiordaliso, and photography with Una bella foto, curated by Salvottavio Puglisi.
There were moments dedicated to dance and meetings with guests, including the siracusan athlete Matteo Melluzzo and the voice actor Leonardo Graziano, known to the public for voicing characters such as Naruto Uzumaki and Sheldon Cooper.
On Sunday, the programme continued to explore the most creative side of pop culture, with events dedicated to 3D printing applied to cosplay, hairpiece creation and styling, CGI, and tailoring for costume making.
Initiatives that I particularly appreciated, because they go beyond simple entertainment and demonstrate how many skills lie behind the passions we often associate with the nerd world.
Drawing a comic, making a costume, working on a digital image, or creating an accessory through 3D printing requires study, creativity, and technical skills. Allowing space for these activities also means recognising the value of those who turn a passion into a skill.
It’s precisely this variety of topics that I’d like to see returned and further developed in future editions. Workshops and meetings can become an important added value for an event that aims to engage not only the most experienced enthusiasts, but also those who wish to get involved for the first time.
Video games sector: there’s room to grow
A particular attention, considering that it is the sector we focus on most, I have dedicated it to the video games area.
Here, unfortunately, the offering has been rather limited. Beyond the presence of two development studios with their respective projects, no proper video game area has been set up.
For an event that bears the name Games, it’s an aspect that stands out. During my stay, I found myself repeatedly hearing some kids asking where the video game zone was, a sign that part of the audience expected to find a space where they could play.
It’s a shame, because the video game industry could have offered further opportunities for engagement. At the same time, the presence of the two development studios has allowed us to discover interesting projects that deserve to be told.
Dragonkin Studios: Monastery: Ora et Labora
Among the participants were the already known Dragonkin Studios, present with Monastery: Ora et Labora, a management sim set in the world of monasteries, already available via early access on Steam.
This is a project we’ll return to soon: we’re indeed preparing a dedicated review, in which we’ll delve into the game and its features.
The presence of the studio is certainly positive, as it allows independent production to gain visibility and gives visitors the opportunity to try out a video game still in development.
At an event of this scale, meeting the developers and getting up close to their work is a precious opportunity. However, I would have liked to see other independent studios as well, so as to make the gaming proposition more varied and offer the public a wider range of experiences.
FallingHorse: You Chose
The other development studio present was FallingHorse, which has brought You Chose, an immersive storytelling project based on interactive narrative.
The game is still in an embryonic phase and, during the event, it was presented through an interactive book that serves as a prequel to the story that will be developed in the final product.
It’s an interesting approach, especially for those who enjoy narrative experiences and want to see how a project is born before it reaches its final form.
In this case too, the opportunity to meet the developers directly and hear the story behind the project represents an added value. It is precisely these occasions that allow the public to get closer to the work hidden behind the creation of a video game.
I hope therefore that, in future editions, there will be the opportunity to involve other studios and expand this part of the event. Not necessarily with large-scale structures or dozens of booths, but with a recognisable space that gives video games the appropriate weight within the event.
A project to follow
Beyond the individual activities, there’s an element that pleased me to see: the presence of an audience that has chosen to participate and trust in this project.
When a new event emerges, especially in a region where it’s not always easy to organise events of this kind, public support is essential. The recorded attendance over the weekend shows that in Siracusa there is interest in initiatives capable of bringing together enthusiasts, artists, associations, and creative entities.
This doesn’t mean there aren’t aspects to improve, but it’s certainly a starting point. Organising an event of this kind requires commitment, resources, and the ability to coordinate many different activities. Doing it in a location like Ortigia adds further challenges, and it’s right to acknowledge the work of those who chose to get involved.
Personally, as a Sicilian, I’m glad that someone was willing to invest time and energy to bring an event like this to the city. I’d like to see Ortigia Comics & Games grow year by year, involving ever more local entities and successfully highlighting all the “souls” of nerd culture.
Ideas are not scarce, and the workshop schedule has shown that you can offer something interesting even without necessarily aiming for big numbers. Now it will be important to make the most of this first experience, understand what worked and find a way to improve what encountered greater difficulties.
For now, we’ve taken home a visit with some missed opportunities, but also the curiosity about how the project will evolve. The foundations are there and the public has shown they’re here: now all that remains is to keep working on it.
So to future generations, the difficult verdict. For now, we nerds are simply happy to have an event that represents us even in Siracusa.
Thank you to the organisation for granting the press accreditation and to Director Sergio Linares for kindly providing me with the official photos of the event.
About the Author
