Portsmouth’s debut hip-hop festival celebrates cultural milestone for the city

Rawkus City took over Guildhall Square on September 14, welcoming around 1,000 visitors while showcasing a vibrant fusion of intense breaking battles, prize-giving ceremonies, interactive workshops, and high-energy dance performances in celebration of 51 years of Hip-Hop.

Hosted by Funk Format in partnership with LOOK UP Portsmouth and supported by Arts Council England, Portsmouth City Council, Portsmouth Creates, The Guildhall Trust, Sea Dog Print Studio, and Crying Out Loud, the free festival was the first of its kind in Portsmouth.

The event was curated by visionary artist and producer Sasha Biloshisky and hosted by multi-award-winning hip-hop dancer, teacher, coach, and choreographer JP as well as Yami “Rowdy” Löfvenberg, creator of the UK’s first all-female Funkstyle group and co-creator of the UK’s first all-female Breaking crew.

Joining JP and Yami were three talented judges: Freeze Fine, a Portsmouth legend and pioneer of the UK breaking scene; B-Girl Stefani, a Ukrainian Breaking Olympian; and Hiro10, a rising star and Olympian representing Japan. Together, they brought expertise, energy, and inspiration to the day’s performances and competitions.

Throughout the day, passersby were stopped in their tracks by the electrifying performances from artists such as Company Chameleon, Hertz & Athena, Word of Mouth, and Cat.Finch, with many deciding to stay and enjoy the festival in its entirety.

Simon Harmer, an Event Management team member, shared his thoughts: “Without fail, those intending to walk through the Square were drawn in and stayed to enjoy the atmosphere. It was great to see people of all ages there: toddlers copying moves on the mats through to pensioners in mobility scooters clapping along to the rap artists. Someone commented to me, ‘I now understand why breaking was included in the Olympics!’ It is great to belong to a city where the arts are taken seriously and supported.”

Rawkus City was an introduction to the authentic street dance forms of Breaking and Hip-hop freestyle while also showcasing the art’s roots in hip-hop culture.

Event Team Member, Jay Patel, a member of the core production team, said “Rawkus City captured the energy of Hip-Hop culture, blending it with Portsmouth’s rich history to create an unforgettable experience. It was truly inspiring to see how engaged the community was with every aspect of the festival.”

With Rawkus City revelling in its resounding success, the team is already looking ahead to future editions. Sasha Biloshisky shared his excitement: “It was fantastic to see so many people, including those who don’t normally engage with the arts, participating and enjoying themselves.

Throughout the day, we saw so much that inspired us, from our experienced dancers showing children what to do on the cypher mats to older breakers trying out moves from their younger days. This was truly an event that spanned the generations.

He added: “We’ve been contacted by several new artists wanting to get involved in future events, and we’re committed to continuing to support and develop the local movement arts scene.”

Gemma Nichols, CEO of Portsmouth Creates, added: “Portsmouth Creates is thrilled to support the development of this new festival initiative. With a strategic objective of sector growth, we are actively supporting all art forms across the city, and we are delighted to have been part of this festival, which is enabling movement artists to grow locally and regionally. Making access to cultural engagement and participation as easy as possible for communities is key to the growth of our sector. We look forward to working with the team as they build upon their movement artist network platform to further build the capacity of the sector.”

For more information, please visit: https://sashabiloshisky.co.uk/project/rawkus-city/