The largest youth poetry festival in the world, Louder Than A Bomb—Power To The Poets, celebrates its 15th anniversary of giving students a global platform from which to share their stories. Louder Than A Bomb (LTAB) features over 1,200 students from more than 130 Chicago-area schools sharing stories with 10,000-plus audience members. Competitors participate in this Olympic-style, slam poetry event through a series of preliminary and semifinal bouts lasting more than a month and culminating in Team Finals at Chicago’s Arie Crown Theater, 2301 S. Lake Shore Drive, on Saturday, March 28, 2015.

The LTAB 15th Anniversary Gala will take place on March 1, 2015, at the Black Ensemble Theater. Hosts include actor Alec Baldwin and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, founder of A Tribe Called Quest.

The public is welcome to attend all rounds of competition and other events. Tickets are available in advanced and at the door. See below for full details.

YCA Artistic DIrector and LTAB co-founder Kevin Coval: “There is power here: a growing mass, an army, a counter culture to norms that dehumanize people of color, the working class, and the critically underserved. The poets at LTAB in Chicago and the nationwide movement they represent are changing things for the better. Together we will make a more equitable country for all.”

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Louder Than A Bomb Preliminaries
Feb. 25-March 13
Columbia College Chicago

Louder Than A Bomb Semifinals, 10 a.m.
March 15, 10 a.m.
Metro Chicago (3730 N. Clark St.)

Louder Than A Bomb Indy Finals, 6 p.m.
March 21, 6 p.m.
Rubloff Auditorium at Art Institute of Chicago (111 S. Michigan Ave.)
Admission: $20 Adults/$10 Students

Louder Than A Bomb Team Finals
March 28, 6 p.m.
Arie Crown Theater (2301 S. Lake Shore Drive)
Admission: $20 Adults/$10 Students

Louder Than A Bomb is co-presented by Columbia College Chicago and Vocalo 89.5FM/WBEZ 91.5FM.