Spinning Tops in the Square. Pirlì Game Starts Between Past and Future

It is considered an ancestor of pinball, very popular in taverns and squares in Bergamo until the 80s and 90s. Made with poor materials, it is played by throwing a wooden top onto a table with edges, with the aim of knocking down pins positioned in a castle. The Pirlì tournament, a game recognized as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity under the Tocatì-Unesco program, is once again animating the squares of 24 municipalities, 19 of which are in the Bergamo area. The new edition of the project "Tutti in gioco - il Pirlì, passato, presente e futuro", which aims to safeguard and enhance the Pirlì, started yesterday and will continue today in the main square of Tavernola Bergamasca: the appointments will then follow in the squares of Gaverina, Villa di Serio, Zogno, Casazza, Mornico, Endine Gaiano, Monasterolo, Rota d'Imagna, Albino, Seriate, Pradalunga, Cavernago, Scanzorosciate, Levate, Palosco, Luzzana, Antegnate and Bergamo.

The initiative is conceived and promoted by the Social Cooperative L'Innesto onlus , with the collaboration of Aga Associazione Giochi antichi and with the scientific contribution of the Ministry of Culture - Icpi , of the Lombardy Region - Archive of Ethnography and Social History (Aess) , of the University of Bergamo , of the Bergamo University Sports Center , of the Municipality of Bergamo Culture and Unesco Service , of the Afp Patronato San Vincenzo . A collaboration that will involve the students of the Endine courses.

"Our students in the carpentry course - explains Massimo Malanchini, teacher at the Patronato - will have to make ten new Pirlì tables, while the graphics students will take care of the packaging and communication". Pirlì is among the twenty-six national games that have received the title from UNESCO .