Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival celebrates 20 years with free, community-based events in Hartford
This weekend, thousands of people are expected to head to Parkville Market in Hartford and to Trinity College for the 20th annual Trinity International Hip-Hop Festival.
“It’s surprising how many people don’t know anything about it,” said Aleema Kelly, co-organizer of the Temple of Hip Hop at Trinity College. “One of the most magical parts is that people can walk into an event and live forever changed with the knowledge of what hip-hop is, what the culture is as a political and social movement, instead of what they hear on the radio, which is a part of it, but there’s so much more out there.”
The multi-day event officially starts Thursday, April 9, at Trinity College with a lecture and workshops. On Saturday, they’re taking it to Parkville Market in Hartford, where several events will be happening, including dance battles, a graffiti and music producer showcase, and a beatboxing competition.
“This is about hip-hop and the celebration of it, and hip-hop is peace, love, unity, safety, having fun,” said Hiram ‘Hydro’ Cardona, a community partner of the Trinity Hip-Hop Festival.
The festival is put on by Trinity College students every year through a group called Temple of Hip Hop. They work with community partners to bring the multi-day event to life. This year, their theme is “Voices of Freedom: Resistance, Justice, & Revolution.”
“We’re celebrating 250 years from the signing of the Declaration of Independence,” said Chris Williams, another co-organizer for Temple of Hip Hop at Trinity College. “This is just showing how hip-hop shows and manifests itself in different ways, and how resistance shows up in hip-hop. And it’s a form for the people, by the people. So that’s what we really want to showcase this year.”
Hydro emphasized the festival’s impact on hip-hop’s evolution.
“There was a time when hip-hop had been showcased in a certain way, and this is the way that it’s supposed to be shown and broadcast to the world,” Hydro said. “It looks like you. It looks like me. It looks like we. This is what you can expect. You can expect a wide range of people who are talented, who are loving, and have an immense amount of skill and talent, and love to share it and have fun.”
And they hope this event will offer a space for people to connect with one another.
“This is a place of belonging for everybody,” Williams said.
The festival is free and open to the public. For more information on the timeline of events, click here.
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