Chiggy’s Skate Fest
Local Skateboard Coach Presents Land-Based Event
With most of the action taking place in the waves at Noosa’s First Point, a new land-based event will offer fresh opportunities for spectators at this year’s Noosa Festival of Surfing.
Mat ‘Chiggy’ Chigwidden will be hosting Chiggy’s Skate Fest – nine days of skateboarding action set in the shaded surroundings of Noosa Woods.
“The idea actually came from Festival Organiser Josh Allen,” recalls Chiggy. “He called me up one day and asked if I’d like to be involved. I was super-keen and jumped on board straight away. It keeps evolving and we’re getting more support on board to keep making it bigger and better.”
The 200 square-metre site will feature food trucks, marquees, sponsor stands, a bar and skating obstacles, including a transportable mini-ramp created specifically for the event. Chiggy’s coaching will be on offer to visitors and locals alike and, with the day’s offerings commencing from 7am, there is even time for local young shredders to get a quick session in before school.
Each day, lessons will be available plus pre-booked free-skating sessions, with the afternoon given over to demonstrations by professional skaters and a series of competitions across various age divisions.
“We’re going to do it all,” enthuses Chiggy. “I will be running lessons most days, we’re going to open up the ramp for people to skate, probably for about $25 an hour, though that’s to be confirmed. It will be open from about 7am to 5:30pm each day of the festival and we’ll have demos and competitions on all afternoon and into the evening.” Local ramp manufacturer Ashley Wild Ramps has taken on the challenge of custom-crafting a demountable ramp system. The first of its kind, it will conveniently fold onto a trailer, making it completely transportable and able to be installed into any location. Though a professionally-finished prototype, this ramp will become the template and showcase for future production, making ramp skating more accessible to temporary events, demonstrations and more remote regions without their own skating facilities.
Sponsors abound for this brand-new component of the 2021 Noosa Festival of Surfing, and what better time for its addition than on the festival’s 30th anniversary? With skateboarding and surfing so closely affiliated, Chiggy’s Skate Festival fits seamlessly with the festival’s ethos of celebrating stoke, both in the ocean and on terra firma.
Whether or not you are a skater yourself, the event will be well worth a visit, offering respite from the sunny beach and a host of action and demonstrations from some of Australia’s foremost skateboarders. “It’s always good to watch, regardless,” says Chiggy, himself a nationally-renowned skater and Sunshine Coast skateboarding coach since 2013. “With a bar and food trucks opening in the afternoon, people will be able to join us to watch the skating demos and competitions, enjoy some food and drink and take in the vibe. It’s such a great spot for it – it’s going to be so unique.”
A growing list of sponsors is signing on in support of Chiggy’s Skate Fest, including Vans, Yeti, Volcom, JBL, Friends Skateboards and more to provide an exceptional prize pool for those competing and help support the inaugural event, made possible by the innovative ramp created by Ashley Wild Ramps.
The Noosa Festival of Surfing takes place from the 15th to the 23rd of May, 2021, with Chiggy’s Skate Fest rolling from 7am to 5:30pm daily and select events also being screened around the world on FuelTV.
A full schedule for Chiggy’s Skate fest is now available on the website.
The Festival would like to take this opportunity to thank Mat ‘Chiggy’ Chigwidden, Ashley Wild Ramps, and all of our 2021 sponsors for making this event and the 30th Anniversary Noosa Festival of Surfing possible.
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