Ōtepoti's only hip-hop festival is poised to have its biggest year yet.
Ōtepoti Hip-Hop Hustle has grown from humble beginnings as a part of the Dunedin Fringe Festival to now feature over 30 artists from throughout the South Island.
Since its establishment in 2018, the festival has changed venue and is now being held at Errick’s this Saturday.
Festival producer Jonny Waters said the festival was a showcase of the expression and creativity of hip-hop culture.
"It’s definitely grown from year to year.
In 2022, the festival was held in the parking lot of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery.
It was a celebration of the four elements of hip-hop, Mr Waters said.
The elements are graffiti art, dancing, MCing and DJing — all of which will be on display at the festival.
"I think the reason why it’s so appealing is because you could be drawn into the show because you love dance and then all of a sudden you’ve left loving a certain rapper or you’ve got more of an interest in graffiti art or DJing."
Ōtepoti had a "tight knit" hip-hop community that had a lot of talented people, he said.
He wanted to promote that community positively.
"They’d be very impressed that Ōtepoti has this many talented locals living right here in the city that they may have never heard about."
This was the only event of its kind in Ōtepoti
"There’s a lot of people who are really into the genre and the art form. We’re just trying to do our part and make sure that it continues to grow."
Artist liaison Hamish Marchant said it was important to highlight the hip-hop community as it was something people could gravitate to and connect with.
