Alicante’s Urban Tactics Festival Returns as a Long-Running Celebration of City Culture
Alicante hosted its first urban cultural festival in 2022, a bold initiative known as Urban Tactics. The event returned to Las Cigarreras from May 16 to 20, weaving together music, dance, graffiti, and fashion. The gathering featured one of hip hop’s pioneers, Afrika Bambaataa, a native of the Bronx, New York, who marked his 66th year with the citywide celebration.
The festival offered free entry and open access to all activities, organized by the Urban Tactics collective and produced by the Consorcio de Museos de la Comunidad Valenciana along with Las Cigarreras and Cervezas Alhambra. Its mission is to articulate diverse urban cultures, bring them closer to the public, and revisit the history of hip hop in Alicante through workshops, concerts, DJ sets, talks, and film screenings.
Reflecting on the festival’s reception, organizer Ivan Lopez recalled that last year’s editions in Secadero and the concerts at La Trasera drew crowds that some considered overflowing, with about seven hundred attendees. The success highlighted the enduring impact of hip hop culture in Alicante dating back to the 2000s and 80s, a legacy carried forward by participants such as Santi Uve, Da Zoo Bros, and Cleo Pathfinder.
The festival began on May 16 with a bulk graffiti session in La Trasera at Las Cigarreras, curated by the artist Red, the author of last year’s mural. Up to 20 Valencians, along with guests from Madrid such as Asem, yekoyekill, and Mr. Man, contributed to the artistic program.
Caja Negra, where a documentary will be shown, opens on May 19. Alicante Represents! will feature a discussion on and reflection of the city’s hip hop history, with participants including Maria Campillo. Around the city’s orchards at night, DJ Power will also perform. Most of the programming unfolds on Saturday, May 20, from 11:00 to 23:00, including a market, rap workshops in Valencia, and a screening of The Man Behind the Rhythm, which explores Eugenio Pantana’s influence, scheduled for the morning.
Block Party
This year’s edition is titled Block Party, a nod to street parties of the 70s and 80s that unfolded between apartment blocks in the New York City neighborhood of the Bronx. These gatherings also served as a response to youth gang tensions with DJ sets where Afrika Bambaataa helped pioneer the scene. Urban Tactics aims to celebrate the DJ and producer legacy, giving the true architects of hip hop the spotlight they deserve, rather than letting the spotlight rest solely on the most famous names. The festival also features production workshops and collaborative sessions. Beatmeeting, created in 2022 in Alicante by Aukan, DJ Saico, and Grumo, offers workshops spanning from experimental hip hop to Lo-Fi and funk. Madrid’s City Breakers (DJ Garcia and Hair 2) contribute a taste of electro-hip hop to the program.
Concert at La Trasera
The La Trasera concert begins at 19:00 with a Madrid-based rapper, Mikalleyit, followed by Alicante’s own Cuba Cleo Pathfinder, who brings a boombap, old-school vibe and her new EP Los Alicantinos. The night also features an MC from Alicante who has released more than seven records and collaborated on numerous tracks, alongside Da Zoo Bros. Two pillars of the Alicante scene since the mid-1990s, Bha and DJ Power, close the set with a nod to Afrika Bambaataa. The evening culminates with a performance by the American DJ and producer Afrika Bambaataa, a figure celebrated for his impact on hip hop, electro, and related genres, including Planet Rock in 1982 and other landmark works in the broader music landscape.
Overall, the festival blends live performances with rich storytelling about the city’s cultural evolution, offering a space where local artists and international icons intersect to celebrate urban creativity in Alicante. The event is a reminder that hip hop’s roots are communal and improvisational, thriving in public spaces and among neighborhood networks that continue to shape the sound and culture of today.