Features of good practice for safeguarding and valorising intangible cultural heritage: the Tocatì International Festival of Street Games

Purpose of the paper: The aim of this paper is to analyse the extent to which the uniquely successful Tocatì International Festival of Street Games, which has been promoted by the Associazione Giochi Antichi (Traditional Games Association) since 2003, can be considered an example of good practice for safeguarding an intangible cultural heritage, and the factors underlying its success. Methodology: The qualitative approach of this paper is based on a case study. The data were collected by conducting in-depth interviews of the organizers of the Tocati International Festival. Results: The results confirmed the working hypothesis and highlighted the determinants of the success of the Festival in safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage of traditional games. Limitations: The case analysis only considers the perspective of the promoter of the event. Future research should be extended it to include the perspectives of other stakeholders. Practical implications: Although the findings indicate that the event cannot be standardised or easily reproduced, they do identify a number of factors that can favour the success of a cultural festival. Originality of the paper: As there are no published models for evaluating cultural events as good practices, the findings of this study can contribute to the open debate on this topic.