Forget the beach umbrellas and seaside sunsets for a moment. From tomorrow, Friday 5 June, Jesolo changes its skin and turns into Italy's capital of gaming.
The Palazzo del Turismo on Piazza Brescia hosts Frogbyte, Italy's biggest LAN party: three days, 52 hours of non-stop play and hundreds of gamers ready to battle it out with mouse, keyboard and controller.
Open to everyone and FREE: when to come
And here comes the news that matters to absolutely everyone: you don't need to be a pro to take part. Over the weekend the doors of the Palaturismo open free of charge to the curious, to families and to anyone who's a fan.
Free entry runs on Saturday 6 June from 2pm to midnight and on Sunday 7 June from 2pm to 6pm. You walk in without a ticket to soak up the atmosphere, challenge your friends at the open stations, try the retrogaming corner curated by 12Bit with its vintage arcade cabinets, take the wheel of the Project51M driving simulators and pop over to the food point.
Those who want to compete in the tournament, on the other hand, need to register separately on Eventbrite (the event is for over-18s).
The big coup for the city by the sea
This year's edition is no ordinary one. For the first time in its history, Frogbyte is leaving its home at the Pordenone exhibition centre and choosing Jesolo. It's a move that feels like a small coronation: the country's most important gaming gathering has decided to bet on Veneto's most famous seaside resort, bringing to the Adriatic coast a crowd of tech wizards, streamers and enthusiasts from all over Italy.
What happens at the Palaturismo
The format is BYOC+ (Bring Your Own Computer): each player turns up with their own PC or console and settles into one of the 200 stations set up across the great hall of the Palaturismo. From Friday afternoon until Sunday the gaming never stops, with crossplay tournaments on the most-loved titles, non-stop streaming on Twitch, chill-out areas, a food point and dedicated technical support. Fifty-two hours in which the lights never go out.
Not just joysticks: there's room for ideas too. On Saturday the FrogTalk programme brings reflections on the world of video games to the stage, from «Respawn: rethinking video games» in the afternoon to the evening session «Why do we play?» with Alan Mattiassi. Because behind a controller, these days, there's far more than just a pastime.
Under the patronage of the City of Jesolo and with the backing of sponsors of the calibre of Next Gen and Noctua, Frogbyte is yet more proof of a Jesolo that no longer wants to be only beach: a city able to reinvent itself and to draw in new, very young crowds even outside the peak months.
So, to recap: if you just want to have a look around, mark Saturday and Sunday afternoon, free entry. If instead you want to play, hurry up and register on Eventbrite. The level is about to begin: press start.
