The original concept for the festival was conceived by Youth Slam Coordinator RC Weslowski, Music and English teacher Trevana Spilchen, and then WordPlay Poetry-in-Schools Coordinator Chris Gilpin, all of whom are also practicing spoken word artists. The aim was to build upon the already burgeoning movement of Poetry Slam Clubs that were sprouting up in schools and connect these groups together in
a forum where youth could showcase their talents, learn from mentors, and meet each other. Hullabaloo 2011 developed partnerships with DOXA, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and The Cultch. 12 teams from the Greater Vancouver regional district participated in three semi-finals, the fourth semi-final was held in Victoria. The winner of each semi-final advanced to Team Finals Night, which was held at The Cultch in conjunction with the IGNITE! Youth Arts Festival and its Word! The finalists were: Dr. Charles Best Secondary (Coquitlam), Reynolds Secondary (Victoria), South Delta Secondary (Tsawwassen), and Tamanawis Secondary (Surrey). The team champion of Hullabaloo 2011 was Reynolds Secondary. Hullabaloo 2012 saw us partner with the Telus Community Board to expand the event. 12 teams took part, including three from Victoria, and one from the Sunshine Coast. The festival kicked off a Spoken Word Jamboree with feature poet Mary Pinkoski. The poets had the chance to perform an intro piece and meet each other outside of a competition setting. Then, two days of preliminary bouts were held where each team competed twice. The top four highest-scoring teams advanced to Team Finals and the top twelve highest-scoring individual poets advanced to Indies Finals. Indies Finals with feature poets Jo Bee and Buddy Wakefield was held at The Rio Theatre and won by Floyd V.B. South Delta Secondary won the Team Finals competition on a night that saw feature sets by Mo Lawrence, Lee Cannon-Brown, and Khary Jackson. The other team finalists were Reynolds Secondary (Victoria), New Westminster Secondary (New Westminster), and Glenlyon Norfolk School (Victoria). The team from Burnsview Secondary (Delta) won the first-ever Spirit of the Slam award. Hullabaloo 2013 will be once again supported by the Telus Community Board. We have also developed a partnership with The Roundhouse Community Arts Centre, which will be hosting all the events and workshops next year April 3–6. The format for next year has been tweaked to allow more flexibility in team size and have out-of-town youth poets miss fewer school days.
