The 2nd to last!
7 years since I’ve stopped covering events... Except for this one that I do every year. It's always a joy to be surrounded by talented individuals. Incredible dancers from around the world, 3 days of good vibes, and we were lucky this year that the rain barely showed up during this festive event.
We are in Pontcharra, not far from Grenoble, surrounded by mountains. The festival remains a one-of-a-kind event, the one you cannot miss, the one you must experience at least once in a lifetime. It's also an opportunity to meet up with a team I only see once a year, it almost feels like a family gathering.
The festival was packed like every year, you can come across all kinds of people of all ages and backgrounds, and that's the beauty of this festival.
The Collab and The 4vs4 are the 2 highlights of this event. The Colab is a concept created in 2016 that combines hip-hop dance and live music, putting musicians and dancers on the same level. Eight duos, a dancer and a musician randomly paired together. Musicians and dancers evolve together, one accompanying the other. After each round, the winning team takes the opposing team's musician(s). Once we reach the finals, you end up with a dancer and four musicians on both sides battling for the title!
The 4 vs 4 breaking Battle shifts the mood inside the Coléo the next day. They managed to still make it fresh after 9 years. The world's best dancers face off in wild battles! Some of the best break dancers in the world meet in Pontcharra every year.
The Collab and the 4vs4 battle are the main attractions, but there is so much more going on outside in the hip-hop village.
7 to smoke
The concrete Battles
The Hip-Hop Village & Skate Jam…
The WGTF?! is also a place to learn and develop your skills as a dancer.
The Workshops
And of course, you need to release the steam at the end of the day!
The Afterparties & Concert
2025 will mark the festival's tenth anniversary... and probably my final year as the main photographer of the event. As much as I love the festival, as the years go by, I feel I no longer can give my best as a photographer for 3 days. Plus, my usual work is very different from this type of exercise, so I feel that others whose specialty it is will be more relevant and able to give a fresh perspective every year.
Whether it is with or without my camera, there is a great chance I will be present next year... Will I see you there?
Huge shoutout to all the staff and crew that made this Festival what it is through the years. Thank you Next Tape and Geo for inviting me each year.
The entire event was photographed with two Fujifilm X-H2s paired with the XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR and XF 8-16mm f/2.8 R LM WR except a few shots made with Viltrox lenses.
Learn more about the festival: https://en.wgtf.fr/ Experience the festival on their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@WGTF
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