JOAT Festival International de Street Dance Unveils 2025 Edition

Following the success of the 2024 edition, JOAT Festival international de street dance will return from August 26 to September 1, 2025, in co-production with Danse Danse.

The program includes : Breaking, Hip Hop and Popping battles, Music Composer battles, free introductory street dance workshops, master classes, conferences, exhibitions, art market and much more to discover the world of street dance. As always, the event takes place in the heart of the Quartier des Spectacles, indoors and outdoors, for all ages, and features a lot of free activities. Through its diverse programming, the festival's artistic director Handy Yacinthe highlights the street dance community, both local and international.

The three evenings of battles at Club Soda will feature top-class dancers in Breaking, Hip Hop and Popping.

In a one-on-one format, artists will take turns improvising to music chosen live by the DJ, with an MC leading the way. International judges will then select the winners in each category.

This year's event will feature distinguished judges and guests. Among them are Phil Wizard, Canadian dancer and gold medalist in breaking at the 2024 Summer Olympics, and DJ FLEG, who was the breaking DJ at the last Olympics.

MT POP, winner of the 2018 JOAT Battle, will also be taking part. The Vietnam-born icon, who has over 313,000 followers on Instagram, is sure to leave a lasting impression at JOAT 2025.

More than 250 dancers are expected to compete in the Prelims, which will take place during the day on the Esplanade de la Place des Arts. On the basis of a solo improvisation in front of the judges and the public, 16 finalists will be selected to participate in the battle at Club Soda the same evening. All finalists will receive a cash prize, a festival feature that’s uncommon in the world of battles.

Since its beginnings, the Festival has opened its doors to all generations with the JOAT KidzBattle, an All Styles dance battle for kids and pre-teens with Urban-Element Zone. New this year, the KidzBattles will be held in the same format as the adults: the finals will take place at Club Soda in the presence of international judges. In order to give everyone the chance to participate, the contestants will not be chosen in advance, but will have to go through the selection process at Place des Arts' Espace Culturel Georges-Émile-Lapalme.

The windows of the 2-22 Building, at the corner of Sainte-Catherine Street East and Saint-Laurent Boulevard, will once again serve as a showcase for short, dynamic performances, JOAT Vertige. This time ten dancers will perform over no less than nine evenings, with two performances each evening. The shows will be accessible to the general public and will be sure to generate a lot of buzz on Sainte-Catherine Street.
 

The exhibition by Do Phan Hoi, a Montreal-based photographer specializing in street dance culture, will also be open to the public free of charge, offering an immersion into the street dance scene through the spotlighting of key figures in the industry.

This year's edition also sees the return of the krump battles with MKA Sessions, the Montreal Loves Dilla DJ set in tribute to legendary Hip Hop producer J Dilla, and the C'est quoi les DAWs confrontation, organized by Artbeat Montreal for beatmakers.

Young and not-so-young alike can also take part in free introductory street dance workshops open to all skill levels.

At the same time, master classes will be given by battle judges and international guests, offering a unique opportunity for dance enthusiasts and novices alike.