« Curated by Toronto’s Manifesto’s Festival of Community and Culture, Hip-Hop Playground: Battles and Beats is a jubilant celebration of hip-hop culture showcasing dance, music, graffiti art, spoken word, and more. Acclaimed Ottawa DJ, artist, and urbanist Memetic hosts.

Dance Battles: DJ Jervyjerv spins tracks as 20 of the province’s best dancers in four distinct styles – locking, popping, breaking, and freestyle – battle it out for a cash prize.

Dance demos: Crazy Smooth and Gadfly will conduct mini-sessions for the public and demonstrate their unique takes on hip-hop dance techniques.

All Hands on Deck: Hone your DJ skills in this interactive turntable zone with award-winning DJ Grouch.

Graffiti Art: Toronto’s Graffitti Boxman Project brings their 15-foot cardboard canvas to the playground and invites some of Ontario’s hottest artists to design it. Contribute your own art to a mini-boxman!

Mustafa the Poet: The powerful young spoken-word artist performs a set of his intensely personal and inspiring poems.

Freshest goods marketplace and food trucks: Graze at local food trucks, and find the best in art and clothing at the hip-hop marketplace. »

-text and photo from National Arts Centre’s website
 Read Manifesto’s profile on ArtBridges’ Directory of Community-engaged Arts.