Street Games Festival strikes back! This time we will run, jump, hide, seek and explore in the beautiful city of Tartu – European Capital of Culture 2024.
Phenomenon of street games (urban games, pervasive games) became interesting for many players across the globe in the last 20 years. Yet, it is still fresh and inspiring to play games in public spaces.
Playing is the first activity that humans experience. In adult life we become focused on “serious things” and tend to forget how to play. However – playing brings benefits that are hard to achieve in other way – connection with other people and generations, spirit of adventure, pleasure of exploring new places and joy of winning. Street games are focused on playing in the public spaces as well using its elements in the games’ stories and mechanics.
We invite you to join our celebration of play – Street Games Festival in September 2024 in Tartu. Experience a really unique urban adventure with us!
The topic of the Street Games Festival in Tartu is:
interpersonal
What does it mean for us?
interpersonal
Games that are simply connecting people. After the pandemic, during the war in Ukraine our communities (especially in eastern Europe) need connection with others. No matter how many tools for remote work and digital connections we have, we still have needs to meet people face to face, to look into each other’s eyes, to maintain physical contact.
intergenerational
Connection between generations is something difficult to achieve and valuable at the same time. It is not always easy to find a common language for communication between generations. We believe (and we know it from our experience) that games are a great way to connect different people – from different cultures, backgrounds, also at different ages.
interdisciplinary
Another magical feature of street games is that they can mix and blend various activities, diverse cultural and art practices. We’ve seen musical games, we’ve played games using elements of the theatre, some of them are using approaches known from sports or traditional folklore. We are inviting games that can surprise us with an unexpected blend of ingredients.
interplaces
Last but not least – urban space is what interests us most. We’re looking for games that will show hidden, new, unexpected places – or places well known, but now used in a new, unique way, with fresh glance – a new meaning.
I havent’s really played street games yet, how do they look?
Short anwer is: they look different. Some are connected with running a lot, some encourage to contact with other players or strangers, some are historical, some tell fictional stories. All of the games are played in the real world, all of them can give a lot of impressions. Have a look at the vidoes from other festivals to see what you can expect (althought Tartu festival is going to be unique!).