Tent Paars once again the beating heart of street culture at Festival Boulevard

From impressive dance battles to intimate spoken word, from experimental performances to sold-out hip-hop shows. Last year, Tent Paars became one of the most energetic venues at Festival Boulevard. From 6 to 16 August, this street culture arena returns to the Parade in Den Bosch with a programme that is more diverse, rawer and more surprising than ever.

No two days at Tent Paars are the same. Whilst one performance is fully scripted, the next is created entirely in the moment. One artist seeks tranquillity, whilst another sweeps the audience away in an explosion of music, dance and improvisation. It is precisely these extremes that form the strength of Tent Paars this year.

“Tent Paars exudes the energy of street culture: raw, creative and incredibly diverse,” says Arjuna Vermeulen, artistic director of Cypher HQ and curator of Tent Paars. ”It’s a place where differences don’t create distance, but rather bring people together. A world where everyone is welcome, where we inspire one another, and which shows that street culture encompasses fully-fledged art forms that belong at a festival like Boulevard.”

Among other things, visitors can look forward to being entertained by roller-skating heroes in Life on a Roll, the spoken word performance Dramatic Poets, the unconventional performance STRIKE THROUGH and Summer Breaks, one of the many dance battles in which breakers and all-style dancers challenge each other in a competition centred on improvisation and collaboration. Alongside this, a diverse programme unfolds, featuring, amongst other things, raw comedy, rap, freestyle football, lively parties, graffiti, various dance styles and unexpected collaborations between artists from different disciplines.  

The previous edition proved that this formula is a hit. Several shows were sold out, and Tent Paars became a place where lovers of street culture and the regular Festival Boulevard audience came together. This year, too, that coming together is central to the event. In this way, Festival Boulevard demonstrates that street culture now occupies a natural place within the performing arts: not as a fringe event, but as an artistic discipline that continues to innovate, challenge and connect.

The programme for Tent Paars is organised by Cypher HQ, the hip-hop cultural centre in 's-Hertogenbosch that is committed to the development of street culture through talent development, education, community engagement and professional stage productions.