In the summer of 2022 we organized the biggest event we’ve ever done. Initiated by Byrrrh&Skate, we basically got a “carte blanche” to take over the skatepark for one day. In response to the sexist comments we sometimes receive when entering a skatepark or posting a skateclip, we decided to call the event the BX’elles Bakesale (which very fortunately sounds the same when you say it out loud). Wearing aprons all throughout the event we decided this would be our way to say “if you think we belong in the kitchen, well, this is our kitchen”.
Everyone was welcome, but the main focus was to celebrate gxrls skating. First of all, we turned the average skate contest timeline upside down. Usually they start off with a “gxrls jam” and work their way up to the big contest of the day where only boys skate. Well, we decided to go the other way around. We started our day with the ‘Kids Challenges’, followed up by the ‘Boys Jam’, and then an extensive ‘Gxrls Street’ and ‘Gxrls Miniramp’ contest. To wrap up and bring everybody – all ages and all genders – together, we closed off with a ‘Mixed Jam’ where everyone could skate together.
Thanks to Youssef from Byrrrh&Skate we had the entire skatepark and the outdoor space at our disposal for not only the contests, but also concerts (from the avant-gardistic noise band CasseCouilles and the electro-kraut-psych-punkband from Rotterdam ‘Smudged’), expo, closet sale, tattoo artists, catering,… you name it, we had it! It was really the best ‘gxrls skate’ celebration we’ve ever seen and it will remain a core memory forever.
