1st Bilbao Skate Festival: 17/18 April 2004

Naomi Grigg

Well, if my ego wasn’t out of control beforehand, it sure is now – the Spanish skaters were possibly the most appreciative and adoring audience I’ve ever skated for – and so open about it! So keen to learn that at one point I had a sudden and impromptu class of around 30 children and adults after our freestyle dance demo, skating to the beat.

If you are considered ‘intermediate’ here, then visit Bilbao to feel like a hero – but expect to pass on your skills! They are hungry for tips.

Loser of the weekend was the other UK representative, Max Freeman. Having sorted out his tickets (correct flight numbers, wrong days…) he sets off at 3.00am from Eastbourne. At 3.01am his tyre bursts. “Morning dad”. 5 miles from Stansted, an 18 wheeler takes a nap across all 3 lanes, ending any chance of making his original flight, and beginning 2 hours of eye spy, followed by 10 hours counting security announcements. Loser.

The main activity of the festival for us, involved eating in one of the best restaurants in Bilbao – Sat lunch (2hrs), supper (3hrs), Sun lunch (2hrs) - It was quite an adventure too and I felt a little like Michael Palin at one point, when nervously sampling some of the unusual seafood delicacies, egged on by the the locals, though Max was not so excited by the prospect… The 2nd most time consuming activity was acclimatising to Spanish time keeping!

The first day of the festival was purely for demos – the crowd was circulated around 3 areas – first the Redbull vert ramp, then the street course completed with scrap car, and finally to the huge freestyle arena, just as the sun came out.

The massive vert ramp was home to some excellent skaters – Josu, the organiser, had clearly not spared expense or effort when shopping around for demonstrators. Despite this, I had to walk away when seeing the Redbull-sponsored skater trying (and failing many times – respect) to land a new and seemingly impossible trick, involving a one million degree spin during a flip… without wrist or elbow pads. His poor mother.

The street course was fantastic to watch, principally because of the car. I’ve clocked up many hours of watching various grinds and ramp combinations, but adding a car into the equation made it so new and exciting again. Watching the skaters breaking the windows one by one, and using the resulting ledge for stalls, the bonnet for slides, and the bumpers for grinds was mesmerising. In fact I’m concerned that I found the gradual destruction of a vehicle so delightful.

And onto our area – the freestyle. This section had been organised by the Barcelona association ( www.patinar-bcn.com ) and was very successfully run, thanks to the thought that Carlos had put in. There were 5 international demonstrators – Chloe (Bordeaux), Monique (Bordeaux), Christophe (nr Paris), Maxime (Bordeaux) and myself, but we were given very strict instructions of conduct: To begin with, the local, national and international skaters were to keep to the local level, before very gradually allowing the level to rise. This was great for the event and an important key to its success. It allowed the skaters of Bilbao to join in and participate, and communicated that the basics such as crisscross, snake, 1-foot (on long cone spacing) are tricks to be proud of, worthy of showing off and applause. This encouraged the spectators to join in after the demos and try out the basics, without having been scared off by only seeing what is seemingly impossible to a skater new to slalom.

By far the most popular freestyle activity for the Spanish was dancing on skates – they absolutely loved it, and when I was passing on a basic move to two teenagers, I looked up to see 30 more, stepping in time – watching and copying every move. Never has the language barrier been so insignificant.

The evening brought Max’s eventual arrival and the next marathon feast, preparing for the 2nd and final day of the festival.

The 2nd day consisted of Bilbao’s first mass streetskate, and many many MANY photo calls for Max and myself, ranging from organiser-team shots, and handstands for the press (1st time since I was 8), to kids who wanted their photos taking with us (for which we gained 100 ego points each. I won).

The weather was English – cold and wet, but this didn’t prevent 500 skaters from turning up for the skate. The skate itself was largely run by the more experienced Barcelona skaters and had some interesting differences to ours – replacing the front marshal was a line of about 10 marshals, and at about half way the back half was channelled in front of the front half to manage the pace. The speed was ‘inclusive’ and they had the assistance of the police motorbikes. If only we were so overstaffed and sponsored by OUR City Hall…!

After the street skate, the festival was relocated to… (wait for it)… their undercover public skating rink. Alright for some! There the French and Barcelona skaters shared their slalom skills, and Max and I created some on-the-spot joint freestyle collaboration – I think we had more fun than the spectators! “hey, what about…..” “have you ever thought of….”.

Finally, cold, shivering and exhausted, we returned to our hotel to enjoy hot baths & even more hospitality, and Spanish timekeeping. And now we are on Easyjet flight 3776 to Stansted.

My finishing tip for those travelling to Bilbao is that if you don’t like your steak served in its own blood, ask them to cremate it – they will pass it over a still-warm match for you at no extra cost.

The follow up to this event is the Barcelona Skate Festival, that takes place on Sunday 23rd May. It promises to be an exciting day, and we shall be joined with the excellent French slalomers Vincent Vu-Van-Kha and Walid, and the Dutch quad-dancer Ayke. If anyone would like to come over to join in, please contact me via the www.skatefreestyle.com mail forms.

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