Last weekend, a horde of Lusaka’s youths gathered at the NASDEC Sports Complex for the 12th triannual Street Culture Festival.
The complex came alive as a centre of skateboarding, dancing, rap and art as the youths displayed their skills mainly exuding hip-hop street culture.
Artist Slap D brought his hip-hop flavour to the festival, performing a number of hits before an excited, youthful crowd.
The skateboarding featured different categories and the offer of prize money.
There was also a dance competition featuring a dance-off in various categories, which included hip-hop, free style, break-boy and afro hip hop.
“The Street Culture Festival is one that has been growing steadily. We always have the largest turnout in December because everyone is free during school holidays,” festival organiser Mauthos Ndhlovu shared with the Weekend Mail in an interview.
The festival has been in existence for nearly four years now, beginning modestly in 2011 and growing in the hundreds since then.
It was started by two friends named Elijah Zgambo and Kapembwa Siame and is hosted three times a year by a company called Street Culture Events and Arts.
Elijah is a skateboarder and b-boy while Kapembwa is a b-boy only. Elijah spent some time in Russia during the period his mother worked there in Foreign Service while Kapembwa had experienced life in South Africa.
The pair noticed there was not much happening on the local scene with regards to skateboarding and b-boying. So using their combined skills they decided to come up with an event to showcase these skills.
Beginning modestly in December 2011 at Lusaka’s Arcades Shopping Mall, the show had an attendance of not more than 20 people, but today it draws a youthful crowd of over 2,000.
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