🌍 Celebrating 20 Years of Youth-Led Impact

The History of Blastbeat

Born in Dublin in 2003, Blastbeat began as a bold idea—to empower young people through music, real-world enterprise, and social purpose. It started with a few schools and a dream of turning creativity into community transformation.

A group of young men are playing guitars and singing into microphones on a stage.
A group of people posing for a picture with a woman wearing headphones t-shirts
A group of young men are playing guitars and singing into microphones on a stage.
A man is singing into a microphone while playing a guitar.

Where it all began...

At its peak, Blastbeat had:

850+

Facilitated 850+ youth-run concerts

3000+

Showcased over 3,000 original bands and acts

5 Million +

Global reach. Built a global community of educators, artists, mentors, and entrepreneurs

250,000+

Reached more than 250,000 young audience members

Empowering Voices, Inspiring Change

Blastbeat dramatically changed my life, taking me from the streets to pursuing positive, ambitious goals."


- Blastbeat Participant

A white background with a few lines on it
A white background with a few lines on it
A white background with a few lines on it
A white background with a few lines on it
A white background with a few lines on it
A group of people posing for a picture at an airport

In the begining...

Blastbeat began as a bold idea

The programme scaled across four continents beweeen 2003 and 2015 in Ireland, the United Kingdom, the United States, South Africa, Japan, Korea and parts of Central and Northern Europe. It attracted the backing of major sponsors, educaional depatermnets and and philanthropic leaders including Coca-Cola (Ireland), Mr Price (South Africa), A Glimmer of Hope and West Coast Music (USA), Enterprise Ireland, Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, The Dept of Edcaions in Ireland and the UK, Barlcays Bank, UnLtd, O2, The UK Cabinet Office, The BIG Lottery fund, both Arsenal and West Ham football foudations and mnay others who saw Blastbeat’s unique potential to help young people, artists, schools, spsorts clubs and communities as well as for sponsors, brands and marketing opportinties 

A man in a suit and tie is holding two books in a stadium

our story

A Platform That Grew Beyond the Stage

More than just a concert series, Blastbeat became a real-life classroom for enterprise, leadership, collaboration, and civic action. Students formed Event Social Enterprises, took on business roles, ran climate-aligned events, and developed multimedia campaigns that gave them a voice, and a future.

In 2008, Blastbeat signed with William Morris Agency, one of the world’s largest entertainment networks, and laid the groundwork for a youth-focused TV series filmed across multiple countries.

🔄 The Relaunch: Built for the Future

Now, in 2025, Blastbeat has re-emerged with a digital-first model. With a mobile app in development and renewed partnerships in South Africa and beyond, the platform is once again poised to scale, this time at a fraction of the cost and with real-time impact tracking, gamified learning, and climate project integration.


With its roots in creativity and its eyes on sustainability, Blastbeat is ready for its next chapter: reaching 2,000+ schools by 2027.

A group of people standing in front of a sign that says we shall rise

Want to be part of the next 20 years?

Partner with us. Fund a school. Mentor a team.
Together, we’ll turn music into movement, and youth into changemakers.

Contact Us