IT has taken months of planning and hundreds of thousands of hours to rehearse.

Thousands of Hampshire schoolchildren, teachers and parents have been painting sets, stitching costumes and practising their moves.

We have galleries of pictures from schools taking part in Rock Challenge this week:

 

Rock Performances:

 

Rock Rehearsals:

 

Special souvenir editions of the Daily Echo are available every day until Saturday, featuring all of the schools participating in this year's events.

Now they are ready to show off their hard work and battle to be named lords and ladies of the dance.

The first schools and colleges will take to the stage tonight as they compete in this year’s UK Rock Challenge.

Mums, dads, grannies and grandads will fill the O2 Guildhall Southampton every night this week to watch the six shows featuring youngsters from across the south.

The competition is broken down into six shows – three for secondary schools and colleges and three for primary schools.

Each school will each showcase its work in eight-minute performances.

A panel of judges will be on the look for top teams for their skills in dance, drama and design.

Winners will be chosen each night to go on to the finals at Portsmouth Guildhall in June where they will get the chance to be named Rock Challenge champions.

The Rock Challenge, an international initiative run by the Be Your Best Foundation, was brought from Australia to the UK by Hampshire police in 1996 to encourage young people away from alcohol, tobacco and drugs.

Now in its 20th year, the popular event reaches out to more than 20,000 young people across the UK aged seven to 18.

The Daily Echo is producing a souvenir edition each day – from tonight until Saturday – featuring the colleges and schools taking part in each show.

Copies are available at the O2 Guildhall Southampton each night or by ringing 023 8042 4777 and asking for the newspaper sales department.