Tocatì: Verona Hosts the International Festival of Street Games

Become and child again with Tocatì. The festival of old-fashioned games where the stage, just like in the past, is the streets and squares of Verona. The games we played before PlayStation and mobile phones. Do you remember hopscotch, drawing the squares on the ground with chalk? Then there was dodgeball, marbles, skipping and many other games.

In September, visit Verona for Tocatì   

Tocatì is a festival that combines games, watching folk music performances from far-off countries, sampling their food and rediscovering old traditional games. The name of this festival, Tocatì, translates as “it’s your turn” in the Veneto dialect. So now it’s your turn!
Get back in the game, literally, and become a child again. And there is so much to learn at Tocatì, because every year a new region of Italy or a new country is invited to introduce us to its traditional games, dancing and cuisine.

How did the largest international festival of street games come about?

It started with the Associazione Giochi Antichi, the association for old-fashioned games. At the start, it comprised just a handful of people from the historic Carega district of Verona, who would meet up to play a game that was dying out and it gradually grew until the Festival was born in 2003. At this point, there were already thousands of participants and there were lots of traditional games being played!

Why do I love this festival of games?

I love to see Verona full of people, music and food from all around the world. Tocatì is important not just because it keeps forgotten games alive but, above all, it is a chance for cultural exchange, involving everyone, telling the stories of the different districts of the city and learning about the invited regions and countries. First and foremost, the games should be fun but there are also rules. Rules make the games fun! The game only works because there are rules, time limits and people who obey them. This is the great thing about games for me, the way they encourage sharing and teach us respect for others. Many of these games are recognised as UNESCO intangible heritage.

This intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity.
(article 2 of the UNESCO Convention of 2003 for the protection of intangible cultural heritage)