Veteran Pro Skateboarder Chris Cole Co-Founds Action Sports Music Festival
Press release:
Renowned professional skateboarder Chris Cole has partnered with long-time entertainment producer John Reese of SGE and Nitro Circus to deliver a one-of-a-kind festival experience of skateboarding, BMX, motocross and music.
On June 22, 2019, Gnarlytown will energize the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, CA, with the perfect blend of action sports, punk rock, rap, and craft-beer tasting. Best of all, this family-friendly event is welcoming for the whole community.
Headlining bands currently being announced for the include Rancid, Pennywise, Off!, Madball, and Action Bronson, with tickets available now at www.gnarlytown.com.
From kick off until the bands take the stage in the evening, Gnarlytown festivalgoers will be entertained by some of the biggest names in action sports alternating between BMX/FMX and skateboarding, all telecast onto the jumbotron to ensure the more committed don’t lose their preferred place at the beer tents or in the sun.
Leading the two-wheeled action is Travis Pastrana’s Nitro Circus, famed for their daredevil FMX videos that grew into hit television shows and live touring phenomenon of extreme- sports performances and competitions.
The four-wheeled entertainment will be the creative result of a long-time vision of Chris Cole — one of skateboarding’s most recognized and respected veterans — in which a personally invited squad of the sport’s elite will throw down for a day of cash-for-trick excitement.
Cole’s passion for music has always fueled his career in skateboarding, which now both combine to fuel his passion for Gnarlytown. “Creating a festival of this nature is something I’ve been thinking about since my early days skating at similar events; it’s a great experience for the skaters to be around the music, and a great opportunity for the festivalgoers to enjoy something extra,” informs Cole. “And it’s exciting and a real honor to be creating Gnarlytown with partnering co-founders John Reese and Nitro Circus.”
Chris Cole’s Rail Jam Invitational will present a selection of today’s gnarliest skate talent from the list of Cole’s personal favorites, which strongly suggests crowd favorite, heavy hitters such as Tom Asta, Chris Joslin, Sean Malto and Ryan Sheckler. Or, as Cole puts it, “Savages I want to see on the course.”
With the skate action continuing in the background throughout the festival as the invitees and assorted guests refine their approach, each official jam event will run unstructured for the skaters to session freely as friends and locals do at a skate spot. Cash prizes are awarded for the most impressive tricks, with the dollar amount increasing for difficulty and personal style to incentivize more gnar for the viewing fans.
“The idea for the hubba rail has been in my brain for a long time,” he says of the custom-build skate course for the Chris Cole’s Rail Jam Invitational (a “hubba” being a ledge down a set of stairs).
Overall the course presents an elongated skate park to facilitate user flow and viewer watchability, with a central level-change centerpiece comprised of stairs, a rail, and the long-envisioned hubba designed as an oversized guitar. Each end of the course will have transitioned quarter pipes to gather and wash speed, with additional bump-to-bar and A-frame obstacles along either side of the centerpiece for additional trick options.
For more information and ticket purchase for Gnarlytown Festival, visit www.Gnarlytown.com.
