Platform 3 Hip Hop Festival

A few years ago, in an effort to diversify, CarriageWorks reached out to Sydney creatives with a slightly left-of-centre craft. Enter Nick Power, aka B Boy Rely, a 15-year veteran of the local hip-hop community and a talented dance show director. Power felt that CarriageWorks was the perfect home for Sydney's first hip hop festival.

He was right. CarriageWorks were supportive of the event at every level. "They really respected my vision to keep it real and support true Australian hip hop instead of some mainstream, commercialised booty shaking, gangstas and bling version," enthuses Power.

In the years leading up to the first Platform event, Power had noticed some segregation in the hip-hop community. "The graffiti artists tend to hang with other graffiti artists and the breakers with the breakers," he says. "One of my goals was to bring the elements back together and have a massive party."

Power has achieved his intention. Last year's festival was a sell-out success and all aspects of the hip-hop community were represented. "It felt like we really engaged the community, like they were putting on the show," says Power. "Families, artists, people from the dance community and hardcore hip-hop heads all came down. It was a really interesting demographic, a good mix of up and comers and old school."

This year, the event promises to be even more diverse and entertaining. On opening night, check out Flexing Skillz, a show that brings four MCs, four DJs, four breakers and four vocalists together with a really great live funk band. "We separate the artists into teams so that each has a breaker, an MC, a DJ and a vocalist, and the crowd gives the teams three topics. The teams then perform an eight-minute set," Power explains. "It becomes very theatrical, like hip-hop theatresports."

On day two, a full day of free hip-hop events is billed. There'll be graffiti and tagging demos, artist talks, film screenings, the annual breakdancing competition and even a kiddie breaking battle. In the evening be sure to check out Elevate, a dance extravaganza that intertwines stilt acrobatics, hip-hop dance techniques and a five-metre catapult.

But wait! The festival is not limited to one weekend. In the three weeks leading up to the event, CarriageWorks will be hosting mass hip-hop workshops to get people in the mood. Popping, locking and breaking will be taught to anyone game enough to have a go. Power descibes the three techniques for those not down with the jargon: "Popping is like a funky robot. Locking is like the point and jumps, old school Don Campbell stuff and breaking is of course b-boy breakdancing." Erin Moy