Following last summer’s legendary 10-year anniversary celebration, StreetFest, the country’s first and only ‘counterculture’ festival, levels up for 2019 with a three city festival series hitting Leeds, Liverpool and London this summer. StreetFest 2019 has assembled a line-up of the most seminal names in British Hip-hop, including DJ Semtex, The Nextmen and Foreign Beggars.
StreetFest 2019 has its sights on becoming a national festival platform for the country’s unsung heroes of live urban arts. This summer sees StreetFest take its creative collective on the road for the first time, to curate each festival in collaboration with local street culture mavericks in Leeds, Liverpool and London for three epic 12-hour festivals:
Leeds, Canal Mills on Saturday 11 May – Acclaimed lyricists Foreign Beggars and iconic DJ Semtex headline
Liverpool, Constellations Complex on Saturday 10 August – Legendary DJ duo The Nextmen headline
London, Gillet Square on Saturday 14 September – DJ Semtex returns to headline once again
Emerging out of east London, the StreetFest concept and ethos is uniquely about a community of ‘counterculture’ creatives, celebrating DJing, MCing, graffiti, B-boying, as well as skateboarding, parkour, body art, BMXing and more.
The StreetFest collective includes curators PaintFreaks who create huge live arts installations and murals. Cutting edge music creators Music Is Remedy who produce live music stages with DJs and dynamic performance. Women in Hip-hop organisation b.supreme, a collective of B-girl international champions and Learn to Skate the curators of the ‘Mini-Ramp Jam’ competition a 32ft half pipe for professional and amateur skaters. This vibrant collective of StreetFest performers, painters, poets, designers, illustrators, tattooists, singers, skaters, parkour practitioners, riders and writers are set to hit Leeds, Liverpool and London this summer, highlights include:
StreetFest Leeds, Canal Mills – Headliners DJ Semtex and Foreign Beggars. The inaugural StreetFest Leeds will showcase the best talent Leeds has to offer. StreetFest main stage hosted by MC Paz, plus residents from Musicology and License to Jungle with live PAs from Flame Griller, Budrat Records and Defenders Of Style. Real-time dance battles and demonstrations, alongside Leeds based DJ collective Fresh Jive. B-Girl SunSun will be master of ceremonies and three International judges including B-Girl Candy B (NYC). Leeds skate stores ArtOfficial and Welcome Skate Store will also showcase skaters and creatives.
StreetFest Liverpool, Constellations Complex – Headliner The Nextmen alongside live performance headliners to be announced. The inaugural StreetFest Liverpool will bring together the cream of the city’s creative community. Liverpool’s unique Zap Graffiti gallery and store, plus a local collective of respected graf artists and writers will create a graffiti hub and showcase of around 30 artists, joining local poets, singers, tattooists, skaters, parkour practitioners and street dancers.
StreetFest London – StreetFest London, the festival series grand finale with a ‘block party’ in east London’s Gillet Square, with DJ Semtex returning alongside live performance headliners to be announced. This year will not disappoint and sees some of the hottest names join London’s top musical talent. The Vortex Jazz Club will showcase an unsigned music stage curated by Music is Remedy, the long running curators of StreetFest’s ‘On The Rise’ stage.
StreetFest also offers a strong musical programme, embodying a mix of both established and up-and-coming bands, artists and DJs from the urban scene. The street festival has long prided itself to be early champions of some of music’s hottest names. Previous live artists have included Afrikan Boy, Stush, Goldie, Miss Dynamite, Loyle Carner, Oddisee, Professor Green, HUDSON, Wretch 32, Devlin, Maverick Sabre and Ghost Poet.
StreetFest founder, Bayo Alaba said “Street culture is bigger than ever right now and there is no other platform for it than StreetFest. It’s always been a focus to innovate and grow every year, so I’m truly excited to raise the bar this year, by taking our maverick counterculture collective on the road with three dates to make StreetFest not just a festival, but a series. StreetFest is unapologetic about showcasing the incredible creative talent that has been under the radar in the community. The countless calls for more since we launched back in 2008, has inspired us towards making every StreetFest even more dynamic and stimulating. We’ve programmed in car parks, garages, closed off roads, car pounds, set up in warehouses and produced on disused and derelict wharfs over the years. I can’t wait to kick off in Leeds, take it to the creative hotbed that is Liverpool, before our homecoming in London. Across all three dates, we will collaborate and bring together each city’s incredibly talented urban arts community. We can’t wait to hit the road.”
Leeds and London StreetFest headliner and Capital Xtra’s DJ Semtex added “I’m looking forward to going on the road with Streetfest this year. It has been at the forefront of urban arts and culture for many years, which is testament to their tireless commitment. It’s a great honour to be DJing at the festival in Leeds and London.”
