The dates for Battle of the Year (BOTY) 2013 qualifiers were announced recently detailing the seven countries it will take place in leading up to the world finals.

It was announced that Battle of the Year would return to Braunschweig in Germany last November following three years at the Park and Suites arena in Montpellier, France.

The annual international b-boy (breakdance) tournament that has taken place annually since 1990 will return to Volkswagen Halle in Braunschweig, Germany after qualifiers in Cyprus, Greece, France, Italy, Japan, Belarus and Germany.

Battle of the Year changed the format of BOTY in 2012 from previous years in favour of a temporary new battle formula: Six crews will now qualify for the final battles, not four. The two crews with the highest show rankings will go directly to the semi-finals while the other four crews will battle in the quarter-finals for the remaining two spots in the semis. The organisers will review the system after the finals and adopt it based upon its success.

Battle of the Year 2013 international qualifier dates

March 30 – BOTY Cyprus – Limassol
May 25 – BOTY Balkans – Thessaloniki
June 8 – BOTY France – Nimes
July 6 – BOTY Italy – Rome, Italy
July 28 – BOTY Japan – Kawasaki
August 3 – BOTY Belarus / CIS – Minsk
September 7 – BOTY Germany – Munster
October 19 – BOTY Finals – Braunschweig

Battle of the Year, also referred to as BOTY, is an annual international b-boying tournament that began in 1990. BOTY world finals were held at the Volkswagenhalle in Braunschweig, Germany until 2009 when event moved to Montpellier, France to accomodate a bigger audience as its popularity grew.

The move back to Volkswagen Halle will see a decline in spectator capacity to 7,000 (maximum of 8,000 for concerts) from the Park & Suite’s capacity of 12,000.

The Battle of the Year will continue its A Change of Direction week ahead of the world finals which include workshops with judges, parties, a hip hop theatre night and the We B*Girlz world finals.