by Mel Blackwood
In honour of Skate Love Barcelona – that annual large and popular festival in Spain that now attracts a couple of thousand people a year – we are hosting Skate Love Yorkshire.
I've was part of the organising committee for SLB for four years, booking the teachers for the workshops. SLB is a huge festival – with expectations for such a festival high from any attendees, I definitely felt the pressure! Making sure there was a good selection of teachers, representing different roller dance styles was important, as was offering workshops that were suitable for skaters at various points on their roller skate journey. It was simply impossible to please everyone, so I did the best I could and hoped that the skaters attending in the years I was part of the team enjoyed my contribution.
If you are heading out to BCN this year, I'm pretty sure you have a good idea about what to expect. If not, you may want to check out these interviews with some of the workshop teachers on YouTube. They're full of top tips about what to expect and how to prepare.
Skate Love Yorkshire
The people I've spoken to about this seed of an idea seemed to be all for it, so we have decided to go with it and see what happens!
The intention is to host a get-together. That's it. It's centered around the skate community, however we are delighted for any skate-curious friends or family to come with you. We want it to be as affordable as possible, so you can afford to do more and live your life.
Due to tiny parts sharp objects and potentially expensive items around the studio (we don't want paint to be knocked over someone's expensive leather jacket or boots!) this is an adult only event.
The schedule:
12noon – 4pm: Upcycle your clothes, skates or shoes.
September is sustainable fashion month and we do enjoy some crafting time. Also, we've got a surprising amount of craft stuff! From Angelus suede dye and leather paint to Rit dye, pearlescent acrylic paint, patches, embroidery thread and more! Bring along your t-shirts to re-fashion, shoes and skates to embellish, and jackets to personalise.
We've made this part of the day pay-as-you-feel with a suggested donation. If you use more, please contribute a bit more. We do also have patches and other items that you can purchase to add to your jacket, bag or whatever you decide. If you have some trimmings or a craft skill you'd like to share, please do let us know!
BYO Yorkshire Tapas 4-6pm
Food to share. Whilst snacking from 12 noon may well happen, we will down tools around 4pm to enjoy a long Spanish-style late lunch and share some food. We simply ask that you register for a ticket to either bring something savoury, something sweet or bring your own meal if you have specific dietary needs. We may well end up with 20 bags of crisps! But if that's the case, Aldi is just round the corner!
Disco time 6-9pm
Skate Love Yorkshire wouldn't be complete without us putting our disco lights on and having a little boogie now would it? Our studio is a skate-friendly space – so regardless of your skate ability, you can have a little shuffle. If you'd rather not put skates on, you can still pull some shapes! Maybe you'll even be showing off your fashion creation from earlier in the day – how amazing would that be?
We're expecting Skate Love Yorkshire to be a much smaller event than SLB… after all, you've seen the size of our studio? We want it to have a cosy feel, we want to get to know you and your multiple talents! We know that lots of skaters are also avid crafters so if you are a craft novice, there will be plenty of people around to support you.
It doesn't matter if you've never been to a Roller Girl Gang event or you don't consider yourself a skater – if you want to come along, we'd be delighted to have you there.
We hope to see you for a relaxed day in our studio – if it gets really warm (as sometimes September does) we will grab our chairs and sit outside! Maybe someone will nip to get us ice creams – maybe on skates!
Let's make some memories together.
