An 11-year-old schoolgirl from Dorset received two awards for her stand-out DJ skills at a Dorchester music festival.
Street In The Park returned to Dorchester’s Borough Gardens on Saturday, May 11 and hosted the “Up and Coming DJ Competition” enabling new and established DJs to showcase their skills.
READ MORE: Street In The Park returning to Borough Gardens, Dorchester
Lola Phillips competed with nine other DJs before being crowned a double winner.
She was the joint winner of the AIR107.2fm DJ set award with fellow competitor Champz - an award named after the community radio station in Weymouth and Portland.
DJ for the AIR107.2fm station Derek Greenacre – aka DJ Gadget – was one of the judges for this year’s competition along with music artist Isaiah Dreads, award winning DJ Andy Cleeton, Emma Scott, organiser for the Anonymous Festival and Kate Wood, executive and artistic director at Activate Performing Arts.
Derek Greenacre said: “We had incredible talent this year and Lola really stood out.
"AIR 107.2fm have been involved in Street in the Park for a number of years. It is always a pleasure to do this event."
Champz and Lola also received the We Out Here Festival prize along with another competitor Bean, meaning the three will be at the festival in Wimborne St Giles from August 15 to 18.
Lola is a pupil at Twynham School, Christchurch and developed her DJ set eighteen months ago when she began competing in her school’s band events.
She drew inspiration from singers Lauren Hill and Amy Winehouse.
Lola said: “Music for me is about feeling good. It took me three days to choose the tracks for this event. I’m so pleased with the outcome.”
Her mother, Louise Phillips shared her immense pride for her daughter in doing something she enjoys.
Louise added: “Playing music is a massive part of her life. She is also really interested in the technical aspects of being a DJ and has honed her skills brilliantly.”
The Street in the Park festival was first launched in May 2019 as a performance platform for music, technology and dance.
It is produced by Activate Performing Arts in partnership with Weymouth College and Dorchester Town Council and funded by Arts Council England, Dorset Council and the National Lottery.
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