The Bridges Urban Sports Park, in partnership with the VI Polish Cultural Week and No More Traffik on our Streets, played host to an energetic urban sports festival on Saturday 12th May afternoon. Young people from across Northern Ireland turned out to board, dunk and tag over the course of the day.
Current Polish freestyle dunk champion Michal LipkaLipinski showed the crowd how to dunk in style, pulling off a 550° dunk and throwing some impressive baskets. Speaking about the event Michal said “It's my first time in Belfast and I am really glad to be here. I think this is a great way to get young people involved in fighting human trafficking and make sure they know about it because it's so underground”.
Local artist Dermot McConaghy ran 'No More Traffik' Jam where he demonstrated the art behind street graffiti painting showcasing amazing images of freedom in support of No More Traffik.
BMX-ers and skateboarders were on hand to bring an urabn edge to the event and for those who preferred the more traditional sport of football there was the opportunity to show their silky skills in ‘The Cage’ football arena.
MLA Alex Maskey who addressed the crowds at the event spoke about his pride in seeing Belfast's young people taking on this issue and making it known to the wider public.
DJ Hix from COOL FM alongside DJ Jon Boi were on hand to provide an energetic soundtrack to the afternoon. Organiser Stephen Cackowski said of the event ‘These guys put on fantastic afternoon showcasing amazing talent in Belfast, Poland and beyond, not only that we got to raise this issue of human trafficking and make it accessible for young people to work with us and support No More Traffik'.
The event brought together young people from a variety of backgrounds and was part of both the VI Polish Cultural Week and No More Traffik (NMT) campaign.
Join NMT Events on Facebook