Tocatí

Tocatì (“It’s your turn!” in local dialect), the annual Festival Internazionale dei Giochi in Strada (International Festival of Street Games), takes place during the last weekend in September (Sept, 25th-27th, in 2009).

Game sites are set up throughout the centro where the streets remain traffic free throughout the festival. Thousands of people fill this historic city, playing simple and ancient games that have survived from generation to generation.

Large inflatable rafts ferry people down the river to taste local products and wines. “Ponte Postumio“, a temporary installation, is erected across the River Adige in memory of a bridge that once stood there but was destroyed by war and is lit dramatically each night of the festival. Music, dance and poetry fill the streets, squares and parks of Verona, one of the most beautiful of Italian cities.

Every year a guest country is invited to bring their own games to share with the Veronesi. (In these photos Spain was the guest, in 2009 it will be Greece) It is a joyful inter-cultural event that highlights the fact that while we may speak a different language and live in a different country, the games we play as humans are surprisingly similar. Through the simple act of playing together we can come to realize that we are not so different after all and perhaps thus play our way to a more peaceful world.