During the summer, when I was a kid, al the neighborhood kids would come together for a massive game of hide and seek. It would have to be outside but we had a street’s length of places to hide. Now imagine how epic it would be if we had a whole town?
Back in 2010, a group of Italians decided to revisit their favorite childhood game, hide and seek. It was just an unplanned game between friends at someone’s birthday party, over time its popularity grew.
For the next six years, the game came to include teams of people from around the world. They would gather in Bergamo, Italy every year for a weekend of camping, food, and, most important of all, hide and seek.
This event became known as The Nascondino World Championship, or Hide and Seek World Championship.
The rules are simple enough, especially if you’ve played before. Teams, consisting of 5 people, have one minute to hide before the seeker begins. They then have to make it back to home base before the seeker catches them. Additionally, the game only permits outdoor hiding spots.
The event has grown so massive that the games were broken up tournament-style with the top 4 teams competing on the last day for golden fig leaf prize.
In 2017, the event coordinators wanted to up the ante. They decided to host that year’s Championship in the abandoned village of Consonno in Northern Italy. They hired bands and food trucks to come out for the weekend and had one big festive dedicated to their love of hide and seek. Almost 400 participants registered for that weekend.
There were plans to return to Consonno in 2018 for the 9th annual Championship but financial constraints caused a cancelation. Since then the group’s Facebook page has been silent on whether or not another Championship will be held again soon. Unfortunately, with the rise of COVID-19, any plans for resurrection are most certainly on hold.
All I can say is it seemed fun while it lasted and if you guys are still out there, I’ll be waiting for my invite.
Sources:
- Hide and Seek Championship [Italybyevents.com]
- Nascondino World Championship Facebook Page [Facebook]
- International Hide and Seek [Atlasobscura.com]
- Feature Picture [Wikimedia]
