UK Beatbox Championships celebrates 20 years

The UK Beatbox Championships has marked its 20th anniversary with a two-day Festival of Vocal Arts at Bristol's historic Trinity Centre.

It is the second time the nation's biggest beatbox battle event has come to the city, drawing artists and fans from across the globe.

The event, which took place on Saturday and Sunday, also hosted a Music Careers Convention and a development scheme for young people.

Rupert Oldridge, CEO of UK Beatbox Championships, said: "We've made this event more accessible to musicians because we have career advice and master classes. We want to support musicians and beatboxers, and to let them know you can make a career with your voice and your imagination."

This year's event featured a full line-up of battles - Solo, Team, Loop and Under 18s - alongside a brand new 'Chess Clock' format, designed to test performers' creativity under pressure.

The audience, some of which had travelled from as far away as Japan, cheered every beat, scratch and bassline created by the human voice.

Beatboxing idol Dan Low - who performs under the name D-low, from Swindon, also attended and spoke on a panel, helped on the main stage and was one of the judges across the weekend.

D-low is a renowned name in the industry with more than 350,000 followers on social media, a beatboxing album and a shelf full of beatboxing trophies.

Crowd favourites also included the West Country duo, Kapow, known for their high-energy performances, who made it to the finals, but missed out on the top spot.

One half of the duo, Simon Olivier - known as Pye - comes from Bristol and has competed in the UK Beatbox Championship 17 times.

US Beatboxer Rahzel gave a masterclass session on Sunday

The music careers convention featured masterclasses and industry panels offering advice to the next generation of performers.

The room was full when legendary US Beatboxer Rahzel - often called the 'Godfather of Noise' - addressed the audience.

"Beatboxing is so healing, it's like yoga, being able to focus on certain frequencies, that takes conditioning and dedication. It's not something that you wake up one day and master," he said.

Nathaniel Sobhee, who hosted the battle stages, said beatboxing helps to build young people's confidence.

"[Beatboxing] opens up doors for, I would argue, a lot of neurodivergent young people who don't have the confidence, and a lot of beatboxing is now used to emphasise punctuation and emphasise language," he said.

This year's beatbox battle featured a full line-up, including Solo, Team, Loop, and Under 18s

The festival also gave the chance for rising talent to get behind the scenes, working as part of the crew and learning skills that could launch future careers in music.

Roshan Adve, 23, from Taunton, has just finished university and was given the opportunity to work as a videographer, and he performed under the stage name R'Ocean in the solo elimination rounds on Saturday.

The development programme was partly funded through Youth Music. Other opportunities included being a runner, stage assisting, camera assisting, and artist liaison.

Mr Adve said: "It's been fantastic. It's been a great chance to see how the music industry works."