#LiveReview | StreetFest London 2019

Last Saturday (14th September), StreetFest has returned for the 11th year which was known for hosting past showcases featuring some of the iluvlive alumni like Miss Dynamite, Professor Green, Hudson, Wretch 32 and Maverick Sabre.

Based at the huge two-floor Oval Space in Hackney this year, this leading East London's family festival once again promoted the street culture to all ages and ethnicities (particularly those from BAME backgrounds) through music and other different art forms (visual arts, street dance and many more).   

As a main indoor space located at the top floor of the venue, it’s where Soul Mavericks X b.supreme takeover kicked off the main stage in the early afternoon with their dance battles and workshops. The incredible 8-year-old Bgirl Terra had won the Bgirl solo battle with Freeze and other breakdancing tricks while BBoy LB and BBoy Sheku were the winning team for the 2-on-2 battle after wowing the crowd with Windmill and other fast athletic moves

BGirl Terra

BBoy LB

BBoy Sheku

As the early evening was approaching, DJ Triple A was the first to spin the deck on the main stage with his sets of Broken Beats, Hip-Hop Jazz and UK Garage. Then along came the London-based artist LyricL who had topped up DJ Triple A’s set with her inspiring poems, smooth melodies and beatboxing gear about the importance of self-love.  

It may be an early start for DJ Triple A but with her upbeat and warm personality shined through her stage presence, LyricL sure knows how to use her charm to get us (including me) going on the dancefloor by teaching us some grooves to one of the Broken Beats tunes.

LyricL

Meanwhile the spacious main space has been running the market stalls (ranged from street-influenced jewelleries to graffiti t-shirts) as well as Manga & Graffiti Arts workshops for children held by Art House Project throughout the day.

Next door on the same floor was the busy outdoor terrace which was surrounded by the bars, Thai food, desserts and graffiti arts (sprayed by Nathan Bowen, Artista, Gabriella Chojnacki and Demograffix)

Gabriella Chojnacki

Artista

Demograffix

Nathan Bowen

Aside from making use of the (unusually) sunny weather on the terrace, the audience members had also immersed themselves into the witty and comical London-themed poems by Danny Martin and some of the homegrown Spoken word talents on the terrace’s mini-stage represented by Music Is Remedy.   

Later on, DJ Shortee Blitz was the first headliner for the main stage where he took the crowd (with some of them being the keen street and salsa dancers) to a laid-back mode with his finest Hip-Hop collection – from Nas to Mos Def and from J Dilla to Diggin' In The Crates. As we’ve drawn closer to the end of the night, the crowd got hyped up on the dancefloor by another headliner DJ Ron with his uptempo Breakbeat and Jungle bangers.