Young people are the target of the Slam Da Trash Festival in Newtown, which will use basketball, hip-hop, dance and music to teach them about City by-laws and littering.

Members of Soweto's Finest Dance Group go through their paces at last year's sports and culture festival

BASKETBALL, hip-hop, dance and street theatre will be used to teach young inner city residents about not littering, at the Slam Da Trash Festival in Newtown.

The day-long festival is aimed at young people living, working and playing in the city. Organised by Region F, the festival - at Mary Fitzgerald Square on Saturday, 28 June - will feature a feast of hip and happening activities.

Region F's communications, marketing and tourism promotion manager, Shaun O'Shea, says the event is aimed at educating inner city communities about City by-laws.

"We want to encourage residents to have a sense of pride of ownership of the inner city. The event is aimed at the youth, bearing in mind that this is Youth Month."

It also aims to bring young people back into the inner city and provide a platform for them to showcase their talents, while promoting the message of a clean city of which they can be proud.

"Sport and culture are powerful ways of galvanising people into action, and we believe that creating a high-energy, positive environment around stimulating activities will help to reinforce a can-do attitude among the city's young people," O'Shea says.

Slam Da Trash will have basketball clinics for budding slam-dunkers, a basketball match that promises to be a thriller between League of Pros basketball leaders Egoli Magic and Wits Alumni.

For hip-hop lovers there will krump dance clinics, an electrifying hip-hop dance battle, and performances by hip-hop sensations ProKid and JR. There will be educational and imaginative street theatre performances throughout the day.

The festival is part of an ongoing educational campaign titled It's my inner city - lets keep it clean that began in April this year. The campaign encompasses street theatre, which is used to convey basic messages concerning City by-laws.

"There are also radio campaigns in partnership with Kaya FM, posters and billboards placed in train stations and 10 branded Metrobus buses delivering the anti-litter message. We also conduct door-to-door campaigns where we engage face-to-face with residents, educating them about littering and other by-laws," O'Shea explains.

The region also hands out a comprehensive range of educational pamphlets in different languages. "The campaign is quite encompassing and our next step is to tackle aggressively other problems related to grime afflicting the inner city."

The monthly Zasekhaya Market will also be taking place at Mary Fitzgerald Square, and interesting arts and crafts and refreshments will be on sale.

O'Shea says a similar festival was held last year and it will feature yearly in the City's cultural and sporting calendar.

"It's healthy and wholesome fun, and it's showing our youth that looking after our environment and keeping our city's streets clean is in everyone's best interest."

The Slam Da Trash Festival runs from 10am to 6pm on Saturday, 28 June at Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown; entrance is free.

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