Photo: The delegation representing the supporters of the Tocatì candidacy in Morocco was composed of Aga president Paolo Avigo, Aga vice-pre...
The Tocatì festival has become a world cultural heritage. The nomination of the festival of traditional games and sports was supported by several countries (Croatia, Belgium, France, Cyprus) and was positively evaluated during the 17th UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Committee in Rabat, Morocco.
On December 1, 2022, with the TOCATI festival, Italy obtained its first entry in the Register of Good Practices of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The proclamation took place in the presence of Ambassador Massimo Riccardo, Italy’s representative to UNESCO, who expressed his great satisfaction. In fact, many representatives of organizations (Italian, European and global) could have accompanied the delegation because without all these organizations, small or large, there is no festival.
The Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano, said that “This goal has been achieved thanks to teamwork, with the technical-scientific coordination of the Ministry of Culture and with the collaboration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Veneto Region, the Municipality of Verona, the Permanent Representation of Italy to Unesco, the Italian National Commission for Unesco and the Aga (Association of Ancient Games). The safeguarding program combines policies for the enhancement of intangible cultural heritage with integrated actions for sustainable development and cooperation, promoting intergenerational exchange and interaction at the heart of the project as values of the traditions of peoples and cultures”.
“From Verona to Rabat, we have come a long way to realize this dream – added the president of the Veneto region Luca Zaia – Tocatì today becomes the representative of a good practice of humanity. Faced with a globalized world in frenetic times, the festival is the expression of a living heritage and a playful dimension with strong traditional connotations. Born and developed in the squares and alleys of the historic center of Verona, Tocatì is the symbiosis between history and play, which together give life to a moment of social and cultural belonging. For the Veneto, it is a wealth of knowledge, as well as places, monuments and landscapes, testimony of cultural diversity…/… The Region recognizes this wealth that constitutes a heritage to be defended and consolidated at the same time. Tocatì cannot be seen as a simple date with traditional games and sports, but it is a moment that aims to safeguard the intangible cultural heritage that belongs to many international communities. A perfect union between traditions and identity, which enrich the capital of knowledge and values that we want to pass on to future generations”.
“It is a source of pride – said Tommasi, mayor of Verona – to be, as Italy and as Verona, the leader of the first festival recognized for its good practices for the protection of intangible heritage by Unesco. It is an experience that was born from the popular neighborhoods and of which the city has been proud for many years. I think it is a just reward for those who have been committed so far. …/… From today, the Tocatì Festival certainly has an even greater responsibility, that of representing traditional games and sports and, above all, that of giving cities the possibility of living spaces in a new and shared way, involving families, teenagers, children and adults around elements of traditional sociability”.
- UNESCO
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