Hip Hop culture festival Come to Amfi, Serbia

Organization of hip hop culture festival “Dodji na Amfi” (Come to Amfi) which is supporting young artists and building an audience for the performers coming from other countries.

About Come to Amfi

Club for Youth Empowerment (KOM 018) from Serbia implements the project “Hip Hop culture festival Come to Amfi in cooperation with different European countries. This year (2022) Come to Amfi– Vol.10” will be organised in cooperation with V4 partners from the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary and WB partners from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and North Macedonia, as well as the artists from Austria. The Festival engages young artists from these countries and supports their work at the regional and European levels. The project builds the capacities of young performers from these countries through the support of their senior and recognized colleagues through the organization of hip hop culture festival “Dodji na Amfi” (Come to Amfi) supporting young artists and building the audience for the performers coming from other countries. At the same time, it brings performers coming from different WB and V4 countries and Austria to Serbia to perform/exhibit, developing regional and European cooperation. Festival of hip hop culture Come to “Amfi – Vol.10” is supported by the International Visegrad Fund, Austrian Cultural Forum Belgrade within the Austrian Embassy in Belgrade, the Ministry of culture and information Republic of Serbia and the City of Niš.

Duration of the Good practice

2012 - ongoing

The main institution in charge of the Good practice

Club for Youth Empowerment  018 (KOM 018)

Nikola Božanović

T: +381 69 24 74 252

E: nikolabozanovic86@gmail.com

W: facebook.com/dodjinaamfi, instagram.com/dodji_na_amfi, youtube

The geographical scope of the Good practice

International

Location of the practice

Niš, Nišavski region, Serbia

Resources needed

The approximate fund for the festival was 40.000 €, which is provided by the International Visegrad Fund, the Austrian Cultural Forum Belgrade within the Austrian Embassy in Belgrade, the Ministry of culture and information of the Republic of Serbia and the City of Niš.

Over 100 young people participated in the organization of the festival as volunteers.

Evidence of success

This festival has improved the quality of cultural content in Serbia, which is accessible to young people and is created according to the needs and interests of young people. By participating in the festival, young, non-established hip hop artists from Nis and Serbia had the opportunity to show their talent in front of a large audience and thus promote their work, hip hop culture and youth creativity in the field of hip hop.

Over 100 young people participated in the organization of the festival as volunteers, and over 40 artists from the Western Balkans (Serbia, Northern Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania) and the Visegrad Group countries (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary) presented themselves to the audience during the festival days and evenings, over 20 young rappers participated in performances through competitions and over 30 young hip hop dancers from the country and abroad participated in hip hop dance competitions.

The festival was visited by more than 5,000 people for 3 days, in accordance with epidemiological measures. The festival was organized outdoors, but the number of free tickets was limited. Over 2000 tickets were distributed for each night, and the festival was attended by volunteers, participants and guests. The program lasted 3 days, and 2 evenings, and there was no repetition of the program. Tickets were distributed free of charge and within one evening there were over 2500 visitors, participants and volunteers. More than 50,000 people had the opportunity to follow the content of the festival through social networks and were acquainted with the program of the festival during its duration.

Challenges encountered

Besides the fact that the festival has existed for many years and is very successful, it still does not have stable financial support from donors, but every year we must find ways and programs through which it would be possible to continue organizing this event.

Potential for learning or transfer

This event gives young non-established artists the opportunity to share and expand their skills with artists who have been on the art scene for many years.

This type of event is very important for young audiences because this type of content (hip hop culture) is very close and interesting to them. The event provides an opportunity and those who are not familiar with this type of content get the opportunity to get acquainted with this type of culture.

Volunteers have the opportunity to learn and feel what it is like to be in a team that organizes events of this type and work in teams, which gives them the experience of working in a team spirit.

How to start?

Funding

Funding is provided by the International Visegrad Fund, the Austrian Cultural Forum Belgrade within the Austrian Embassy in Belgrade, the Ministry of culture and information Republic of Serbia and the City of Niš.

Partners

Visegrád Four partners from the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary and Western Balkan partners from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and North Macedonia, as well as the artists from Austria along with artists from Serbia participated in the event.

Needs assessment

Although the event has the same concept every year, KOM 018 as the organizer tries to enrich the program every year by adding new content.

The detailed plan and program of the festival have been prepared for months, with the participation of the organizing team, which is in communication with the main artists who will be guests at the festival. After this phase comes the preparatory phase of the festival itself, where competitions are opened for volunteers and non-established artists who want to participate.

Enlisting volunteers and users

Potential volunteers fill in the application form in which they explain why they would like to be part of the festival, whether they have previous experience in events of this type, and choose the sector in which they would like to contribute. Selected volunteers go through an individual interview after which they receive the final result of acceptance. 

Volunteer training

Volunteer training is very important when organizing such an event. The training is conducted during the organization of group meetings of volunteers who are divided into their sectors. Depending on the sector (photo/video, host, promo, technical support, refreshments), volunteers undergo a short training in which they get acquainted with their obligations and the ways in which they can perform their duties most productively. Each group has its own team of leaders who are always there to clarify and advise them in case of an emergency.