Non-profit Elevate The Streets to hold hip-hop festival and donation drive on Sep 10

Non-profit initiative Elevate The Streets (ETS) will hold the 2022 edition of The ETS Jam on Sep 10.

Held at Projector X: Riverside, the hip-hop festival will host a myriad of activities such as a dance competition, music performances, virtual reality graffiti showcases and panel discussions.

ETS is a “movement to uplift street subcultures” and focuses on building subculture communities, such as Bboys, DJs and parkour artists. The organisation partners with social services to hold events and reach out to youths.

Participants in the dance competition will first cypher it out before a mystery panel of judges who will select the top four from the All Styles category and top eight from the Breakdancing categories.

Depending on category, the top-performing participants will either be paired up with or pitted against a selected list of new, up-and-coming dancers. This allows for conversations between different generations of dance culture.

Joining the spotlight are music showcases by local rappers under Leftmind International, such as San The Wordsmith, TENGY and Kzy. You can also attend panel discussions held by ETS and its collaborators such as The Kapayapaan Project, Leftminds International Collective and Bethesda Care services.

A live graffiti session will be by local artist ALOT1, and he will also guide participants at an interactive VR graffiti station.

The festival will hold a streetwear donation drive in partnership with The Kapayapaan Project, where donations will be distributed to underprivileged children and youth in the Philippines.

Those who are willing to donate are encouraged to do so with new or secondhand items that are in good condition.

Tickets to The ETS Jam 2022 are at $16 for audience members and $26 for participants in the dance competition. Early bird tickets are all sold out, but you can still purchase regular tickets at The ETS JAM 2022 website.

More information on the donation drive, dance competition and panel discussions can be found on ETS Facebook and Instagram.