Angoulême International Comics Festival
The Angoulême International Comics Festival () is the second largest comics festival in Europe after the Lucca Comics & Games in Italy, and the third biggest in the world after Lucca Comics & Games and the Comiket of Japan. It has occurred every year since 1974 in Angoulême, France, in January. History The Angoulême International Comics Festival was founded by French writers and editors and Jean Mardikian, and comics writer and scholar . Moliterni served as co-organizer of the festival through 2005. Attendance More than 200,000 visitors come each year to the fair, including between 6,000 and 7,000 professionals and 800 journalists. The attendance is generally difficult to estimate because the festival takes place all over the town, and is divided in many different areas that are not connected to each other directly. Official prizes The four-day festival is notable for awarding several prestigious prizes in cartooning. The awards at Angoulême were originally called the Alfred awards, after the pet auk from Zig et Puce by Alain Saint-Ogan. In 1989, the name changed to the Alph-art awards, honoring the final, unfinished Tintin album by Hergé. In 2003, the Alph-art name was dropped, and they are now simply called "The Official