The top 12 highest-scoring poets from Hullabaloo prelims will run a gauntlet of poetic challenges to decide who will become the first-ever Hullabaloo Indie Champion. They will have to survive a Lightning Round and an Anarchy Round to claim the title of best youth poet in BC. Buddy Wakefield, Slam Champion and Write Bloody author, will make his return to Vancouver with a feature set. The evening will begin with a mini-feature by 2011 Grand Slam Champ, Olivia B, and after the slam, the evening will end with East Van favourites, High Society, featuring Chelsea “The Voice” Johnson.
About Buddy Wakefield
Buddy Wakefield is the two-time Individual World Poetry Slam Champion featured on NPR, the BBC, HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, and most recently signed to Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records. In 2004 he won the Individual World Poetry Slam Finals thanks to the support of anthropologist and producer Norman Lear then successfully defended that title at the International Poetry Festival in Rotterdam, Netherlands against the national champions of seven European countries with works translated into Dutch.
In 2005 he won the Individual World Poetry Slam Championship again. He has since gone on to share the stage with nearly every notable performance poet in the world, in hundreds of venues internationally, from The Great Lawn in Central Park, to San Quentin State Penitentiary, to the House of Blues New Orleans.

“Buddy Wakefield is a honey badger. Lions will go completely out of their way to avoid a honey badger.” -Don Beck, Theory of Spiral Dynamics

Born in Shreveport, LA, mostly raised in Baytown, TX, now claiming Seattle, WA as home, Buddy has been a busker in Amsterdam, a lumberjack in Norway, a street vendor in Spain, a team leader in Singapore, a re-delivery boy, a candy maker, a street sweeper, a bartender, a maid, a construction worker, a bull rider, a triathlete and a sucker for anything unfolding. And for peanut butter. And hygiene. Wakefield is a writer, the elated son of a guitar repair woman, wingman of Giant Saint Everything, and remembers Kirkwood, NY. Sanborn too.

“Buddy Wakefield is an unbullshit artist… and he’ll make you laugh your ass off while he does it.” -Gabrielle Bouliane

Buddy, a Board of Directors member with Youth Speaks Seattle, is honoured to be published internationally in dozens of books with work used to win multiple national collegiate debate and forensics competitions. An author of Write Bloody Publishing, Wakefield is known for delivering raw, rounded, high vibration performances of humour and heart.
About Olivia B
Olivia B. is a slam poet, writer, dancer, aspiring actor and generally strange Vancouverite who has been involved with Vancouver’s spoken word scene since 2007. A two-time member of the Vancouver Youth Poetry Slam Team and the 2011 Grand Slam Champion, Olivia usually writes about extremely serious things such as her invisible boyfriend (Howard), children who live in potatoes, the magic of stationery, and internet memes, but has occasionally been known to present more lighthearted material.
This is a public all-ages event. General seating.
UPDATE (noon, April 13, 2012): Advance ticket sales are now closed. There is still a significant number of seats available that can be purchased by the general public at the door.
At the door: $8 for youth (18 and younger), $12 for adults (19 and older).
This event is free for all festival participants and volunteers.
facebook event