Picture this: You’re new to a city and head to its Wikipedia page to learn more. If that city is Raleigh, you might have heard about the Scandinavian lawn game “Kubb,” pronounced like “tube.” Founder Drew Gander put the Raleigh Kubb club on Raleigh’s Wikipedia page to grow its membership and get the club on the map.
Kubb is played with a set of wooden blocks — called Kubbs — and batons to topple them over. Kubb can be played with two to 12 players. We won’t go into detail, but this game is easy to pick up and fun for all ages on grass, sand, and even snow.
Local player Dan Corey emphasized the social aspect of Kubb. According to Dan, playing Kubb is just like a running club, but without the running — where people can enjoy a beer, meet people, and get outside.
“You see people online saying, ‘I need friends, I don’t have any friends,’” Drew told RALtoday. “I always say, ‘Come out and play Kubb.’ We’re just regular people out there having a beer. You can have a beer, you can not have a beer, you do whatever, just show up and play Kubb.”
Kubb is particularly popular in Europe and the upper Midwest, but it’s growing strong in the Southeast as well. Raleigh Kubb is one of four East Coast clubs, and one of two in NC, joining Queen City Kubb.
Members like Dan travel across the country to play in Kubb tournaments. Raleigh is hosting its own tournament on Oct. 21, and all of the proceeds from the tournament go to charity.
Join Raleigh Kubb on Tuesdays on the lawn beside Trophy on Maywood at 6 p.m. for some brews and casual Kubb — bring a friend or make some new ones. Raleigh Kubb can be contacted through X, formerly Twitter, Facebook, and their email, raleighkubb@gmail.com.
