Taste of Korea Chicago Festival 2019
TOK Breakin’ & Street Stylez Fest
Location: Old Orchard Mall - Skokie
Date: July 21, 2019
TOK Presented by: TOK Festival NFP
Battles thrown by: Renato Roldan (Roldare)
After two successful years of throwing the Taste of Korea Chicago’s breakin’ and all styles battles , TOK Festival NFP & Roldare returned for a third year. The Taste of Korea Chicago Festival 2019, was filled with great people, music, food, and of course you can’t forget, dancing. With the weather being absolutely perfect, TOK was everything you would expect of a summer festival in Chicago.
Organizer of the Breakin’ & All Styles Battles: Roldare
Before the Taste of Korea Chicago came to life, Roldare threw the breakin’ & all style battles at the Chicago Korean Festival. Although the battles at the Chicago Korean Festival were memorable, Roldare found himself having to part ways with the event, because of differences in opinions with the organizers. Fortunately, one of the organizers from the Chicago Korean Festival helped launch TOK in 2017, bringing Roldare along for the new journey. Since the start of TOK, Roldare has organized and has put his own funds into the breakin’ and all styles battles. Between the Korean Festival Chicago and TOK, Roldare has successfully organized battles at these festivals for the last seven years!
Winners of the 2v2 B-Boy Battle: B-Boy Seoul Left & B-Boy JFunky Right.
Winner of the 2v2 All Stylez: T-Motion (in orange)
- Battles -
Both the breakin’ and all styles battles were packed with fun and good vibes, bringing familiar and new faces, surrounded by spectators and their families. The battles kicked off on a linoleum floor, laid out on the concrete, and if you were skilled enough to make it to the top eight, then the competition took place on the main stage.
The 2v2 b-boy battle winners were b-boy Seoul from 616/Crooks Crew, & b-boy J-Funky from Knuckheads Zoo/Crooks Crew. Seoul who currently resides in Indiana, and JFunky who lives in Vegas, happened to be in town at the same time, and decided to enter the competition. Not only did these two bboys win the 2v2 b-boy competition, they almost took first place in the all styles category as well, but fell short to all styles competitor Tmotion. Tmotion entered the 2v2 all styles battle by himself, and somehow mustered the energy to go in on multiple rounds. From the prelims to the final battle T-Motion brought fire rounds, and he didn’t look an ounce exhausted, which secured his victory.
Congratulations to Roldare for another fun event, and Congratulations to Seoul, JFunky, & T-Motion on your victories!
- A RebeL -