CIM Terras de Trás-os-Montes has launched the Inter-Municipal Traditional Games Tournament

yogar to fito, rayon, spinning top, iron throwing, coletter, playing pool, making a sack, pitcher racing, climbing fat stick, or playing pull rope are some examples of traditional team games, which have been very popular for a few decades, but gradually they fell Its neglect is unheard of by most children and young adults today.

Recognizing the value of the intangible heritage of traditional games, the local community in Terras de Trás-os-Montes (CIM-TTM) wants to revive this tradition by holding a traditional games tournament between municipalities.

The project is part of the Culture for All programme, which has been approved by the NORTE 2020 operational program, and has specialized teams that will work on this theme, creating a bridge between tradition and innovation. The idea is to develop solutions that make these games more attractive to young people, without losing their originality.

Schools are one of the priority target audiences and will be challenged to participate, motivating young people to learn about, learn and practice some of the most representative traditional games in their municipality. These team games require creating teams, and having teamwork, that fosters interaction, and encourages coexistence. At a time when the excessive use of technology by children and young people is the order of the day, when the context of the pandemic itself has led to isolation, this initiative emerges as an opportunity to work on socialization, inclusion, group spirit and a sense of belonging, so important in shaping the personality of the younger.

The tournament will be held between the municipalities in two stages, in the first stage the teams will compete at the municipal level and after this qualification the final match will be held between the municipalities. The first edition is progressing in 2022 and the mascot that will define this competition is being designed.

Traditional games can stimulate creativity

The Culture for All program also includes, among its main objectives, the promotion of inclusion and accessibility to the most vulnerable audience, as well as employability.

If it is true that revitalizing traditional games can lead to moments and events that enhance the attractiveness of the area, the goal of CIM-TTM goes further and aims to create a physical “tourism product”, with the literal production of artifacts used in each one of the games. This is where the element of innovation, the necessary design, the choice of raw materials, the associated image, etc. come in. Examples are bags used in races, pitchers, generators, tops, etc.

CIM-TTM will organize practical workshops in each municipality. Local knowledge will be added to this practical component, which aims to empower a group of actors that can activate not only games, but also hardware production, thus enhancing employability.

This training is geared more towards young people and adults who do not yet have a specific career path, using culture and the arts here as a tool for local development.

The inclusion of people of different ages, social conditions, races and nationalities, with different skills, dependencies and disabilities, reveals not only an interest in a multidisciplinary, comprehensive, innovative and interdisciplinary project, which is crucial to the progress of societies.

This will be a tool for the development of relations between the municipalities that make up the CIM. It is also considered a goal to communicate the potential of the territory’s identity, through the symbiosis of tradition and innovation, but above all, this project aims to appreciate art and culture as a tool for social integration and innovation.