Tocatì is an Italian street game festival that takes place in mid-September in Verona. This festival is named after the Venetian expression toca a ti, which means it's your turn. This event has been held annually since 2003, occupies an area of over 200,000 square meters in the historic center, and lasts three days, during which over 50 games are offered by the traditional play communities, including Italian ones and guests' games: every year, a delegation of games from around the world is invited to participate.
The games have been launched by the Associazione Giochi Antichi, as part of coordinated efforts to safeguard traditional games and sports in Italy, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, and France. It engages thousands of players, volunteers, admirers, and media actors by connecting traditional games and sports to intangible cultural heritage. Furthermore, it raises the public's awareness of intangible cultural heritage and the risks associated with it by taking place on the streets. It transforms highly urbanized and touristic areas into spaces of inclusion and equality.
This program aims to achieve five main objectives: (a) fostering common ground for exchange between practitioners and institutions; (b) developing a participatory process for identifying, documenting, and monitoring traditional sports and games; (c) increasing transmission of traditional sports and games within formal and non-formal education; (d) strengthen community capacity to manage public spaces and protect themselves and to empower them; and (e) participate in innovative capacity-building initiatives with communities, groups, individuals, and institutions. The program's objectives have been identified through community consultations and meetings on the local, national, and international levels, thus contributing to the program's increasing participation and reach.
Besides traditional games, the festival offers exhibitions, urban and art installations, meetings, conferences, educational workshops, and concerts of indigenous music. In addition, there are tastings of Veronese traditional products, as well as European specialties. A number of initiatives and appointments are made by the faculties of Foreign Languages and Literature, Sports Sciences, Economics, Letters, and Philosophy at the University of Verona as part of the festival. Furthermore, the Faculty of Sports Sciences offered a course on traditional games in 2009/2010. Fuori Aula Network, the university's web radio, also contributes multimedia components to the Tocatì website. The organization and conception of the event are a joint effort of the Associazione Giochi Antichi Verona, the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Verona, and the Ministry of Culture. UNESCO declared the Tocati of Verona a world heritage site on 1 December 2022.
References
(https://ich.unesco.org/en/BSP/tocat-a-shared-programme-for-the-safeguarding-of-traditional-games-and-sports-01709) (https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tocat%C3%AC) |Subject=Art, Craftsmanship and Practices, dance, Entertainment and Recreation, Food, Music |Country=Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Italy |SDG=(08) Decent Work and Economic Growth, (11) Sustainable Cities and Communities, (17) Partnerships for the Goals }}