THE STREETMEDIA SOCIAL V3 RECAP: THE PARKOUR EVENT THAT TOOK OVER BRISTOL
|
|
Time to read 8 min
The biggest and baddest STREETMEDIA SOCIAL saw 150 people show up in the streets of Bristol to celebrate Parkour, independent fashion and art, and for our afterparty BOUNCE OFF!
We hosted 6 pop-up shops, 3 gallery displays, and 3 music acts during the afterparty. The range of talent we saw this year was truly inspiring, and only make us want to push the event further for next year.
We can't believe it's over... but here is a nice little recap of some of the key events from THE STREETMEDIA SOCIAL V3: BRISTOL
FRIDAY
THE MEET UP
CASTLE PARK
Friday was to consist of an unplanned jam day, allowing attendees to gather in the city of Bristol ready for the weekend.
At 11am we start to see the first few emerge from the Bristol landscape and start to gather at the prolific rounded walls of Castle Park's St Peters Church.
This spot at Castle Park is iconic to anyone involved in Parkour. Whether you have seen it in Storror videos, or simply through your Instagram feed, everybody has seen these walls somewhere.
Offering not only lots of interesting challenges, but also an ideal meet up point for THE STREETMEDIA SOCIAL.
By 12:30pm, the spot had amassed over 80 people. The sun was shining, old friends After a few hours of meeting, greeting and jumping, the people had started to head over to College Green.
COLLEGE GREEN
After calling off College Green as one of the three locations for day 2, we decided it was still absolutely worth a visit on day 1.
There had been a lot of new flowers planted right next to the spot, and so we didn't want over 100 people trampling on flowers. However, an absolutely iconic Bristol spot couldn't be missed, and not a single flower was harmed.
As new and old faces arrived for the day under blue skies and 26 degree heat, people were hitting some of the most classic Bristol challenges, such as the window ledge drop descent.
The energy was immaculate. Groups were still arriving in waves. And it was only just getting started...
Quite possibly the peak memory of this spot was a highly regarded local pizza shop located just opposite of the College Green spot. These absolute legends noticed what was going on over the road, and decided to make 10 fresh, artisan pizzas for the group, completely for free! Huge shoutout to @pizzarova for feeding the people ❤
SEB GAP
To end the day, we decided Seb Gap would be perfect for some final training and chilling.
One of the lesser known spots of Bristol that can still take a crowd, Seb Gap consists of a few huge jumps, lots of grass, and some interesting Bristolian architecture nearby.
Surrounded by the greenery of Castle Park, and along the river Avon, it was a picturesque finish to the day.
For those who still had energy, some big stuff was still happening. We even had some attempts at a never-been-done running jump, across the largest point of the pathway going through the spot. Which is absolutely colossal, in case you didn't know!
Some groups floated over to the Fish Tiles spot, which was meant to be saved for the main day on Saturday, but with it being only a 2-minute walk away and being so iconic, temptation to check it out set in for everyone...
As a couple of hours passed, we made the announcement that day 1 was finished, and thanked everyone for the turnout, before grouping off for food, drinks, and the various fun that Bristol has to offer.
An incredible first day consisting of friends, freebies, and a whole lot of crazy challenges completed. Ideal if you ask us ❤
SATURDAY
THE MAIN EVENT
This was the day we were all here for. With now around 140 people taking part in THE STREETMEDIA SOCIAL, day 2 was going to be something to remember.
Visiting 3 iconic Bristol spots with the international Parkour community, a treasure hunt, raffle, pop-up market, gallery and afterparty.
The sun was shining, Bristol was buzzing, and the settings were perfect.
THE STREET JAM
CASTLE PARK MEET UP
Of course, starting the day at Castle Park had to be done, not only for its central location, but because there were still plenty of challenges to complete here.
For many people, it's their first time in Bristol, with attendees coming from all over Europe and beyond.
And so, at 11am, there were already a group of 50 people on the walls of Castle Park. Which is impressive, as the Parkour community is never usually good with timings...
As time passed, the group of 50 turned into 100, and then 100 into almost 150, with a last few new faces turning up for the day. We saw some pretty crazy stuff go down yet again, with challenges like the flip gap, strides across the whole spot, and more.
By 2pm, day 2 was in full swing, and the group was ready to move on to our second spot of the day; Secret Spot.
SECRET SPOT
Nestled away in one of Bristol many alleys, lies Secret Spot. A well known location, consisting of a wide variety of challenges due to the unique architecture surrounding the alleyway. This spot provides something for everyone, whether you want to send tricks off the ramp into the leaf pit, try some technical lines from top to bottom, or simply want to chill, Secret Spot has it all.
The group arrived shortly after 2:30pm in the masses. At this point, the entire group of attendees were all at Secret Spot, immediately making this otherwise quiet alley full of life and energy.
Looking down from the top of the alley, you saw people training, laughing, exploring, and chilling. On the rooftops to the top left of the alley, people were scoping out gaps, with our boy Ethan Raddon being the first to break the flip gap for the day.
After a few hours of vibes and solid training, it was time to move on to the final location of the day: Fish Tiles back at Castle Park.
FISH TILES
Since the group had already visited this iconic spot on day 1, a lot of people were returning with challenges in mind to complete here.
Fish Tiles is surrounded by seemingly ancient castle-like walls that lend themselves so well to Parkour. Being a well known Bristol spot meant that a lot of crazy stuff had already happened here, and inspired the group to train hard.
Immediately, we saw flip-gap challenges being done by the likes of George Prior, Devon Mcintosh, and many more. Not long after arriving, we also saw an NBD dive kong completed by @_samultima_ which can be seen here.
Just to the left, we saw Orlando Devaux complete an insane Plyo challenge, also an NBD, seen here.
It was insane to see such a variety of movement from so many people in a humble spot like Fish Tiles.
As the clock drew closer to 6pm, the SM crew along with our invited brands and artists packed up and started to head over to Club395 ready for the Market, Gallery and Afterparty...
MARKET, GALLERY, AND BOUNCE-OFF!
The official Pop-up market, Gallery, and afterparty is a huge part of THE STREETMEDIA SOCIAL. Not only do we want to facilitate an incredible street jam in iconic cities for Parkour, but also showcase the talent in our wide circle, from both within and outside the Parkour community.
This year, we had an incredible space supplied to us. Club395 is owned and operated by @thebristolcreativeco who use this space for events, parties, galleries, and as a communal creative space where local creators and business can thrive and grow. Set in the Old Market area of Bristol, Club395 provided an ideal space for our invited brands and artists to set up pop-up shops and displays for our attendees. A short walk from Castle Park, and by 6:30pm, the night was in full swing.
Following our market, gallery and afterparty, we had a line-up of music from a variety of talent. We had Brighton boy Ollie Dale doing his first ever public set, local punk band Grotty Scummers to keep the energy high, and prolific DJ Beji Wild running a heavy drum and bass DJ set to finish the night properly.
Big shoutout to @thebristolcreativeco for the help with everything during the BOUNCE OFF!
We can't thank you all enough for coming through and supporting our invited brands and artists. Your purchases went a long way in helping these creatives thrive!
To learn more about the brands and artists running pop-up shops at our pop-up market, click the button below.
SUNDAY
BIG SPLASH DAY
On our final day of THE STREETMEDIA SOCIAL, we wanted to finish with a chilled out splash day, down at the local water jumping spot.
There was no real plan for Sunday other than to just slowly meet up at the water spot and have some fun. And by 2pm, most of the group was already there and setting up for a splash.
Harvey had been hard at work for some weeks up to the event, creating a mega rope swing, around 8 metres up in a tree, complete with foot holds to climb your way up there and send it into the water below.
Some people brought floating boats, some bought paddleboards, and some just came for a dip!
After a chill few hours of sending it into the river, we announced that, sadly, this was the end of THE SOCIAL for this year. As the groups started to disperse, we said a final goodbye to everyone before parting ways and heading back to our hometown of Sheffield.
TO FINISH
THE STREETMEDIA SOCIAL V3: BRISTOL was without a doubt the biggest SOCIAL we have put on yet. With over 150 people coming through, and a wide variety of talented people coming together to help make this a reality. We truly could not have done this without the support from all of you, so a HUGE thank you to anyone who showed face over that very special weekend. We had a lot riding on the event going smoothly, and thanks to everyone, it did!
This year is the first year we put on the event completely free to attendees. It's something we chose to do in order to allow as many people as possible to turn up and have a good time, without worrying about the cost of tickets.
We want to keep all of the future SOCIALS free or as cheap as possible for everyone. But we can't do it without the support of our sponsors, donators and supporters.
Please, if you can, use the button below to donate any amount you can to our cause, and help fund THE STREETMEDIA SOCIAL and future projects.
FEATURED IN THIS BLOG
