SkateCulture Article #3 - Any Given Saturday...

For a third Skate Culture Article, I thought I tackle the Livi Pure fun skate party which is always held on this weekend. You can read the rest of the articles by searching for tagged skateculturearticle.

Livi Pure Fun Skate Party...
The Livi Pure Fun Skate Party is exactly that. It's a weekend of skateboarding and partying held at Livingston (Livi) skatepark.

For the last 2 years, the skate party has not been officially organised but I'll first tell you about how it was officially organised.

The skate party is always held over the last Saturday and Sunday in June at Livingston skatepark. It is a whole weekend of skateboarding and partying that was not only a scottish affair but drew skaters from all over the British Isles and even Mainland Europe. The small park just to the side of the skatepark is filled with tents and everyone stays over with the highlight on the Saturday being a bowl jam at 2 minutes to midnight. Everyone just congregates around the bowl and try and get as many people going as fast as possible round the bowl.

On the Sunday, the day tends to be slower starting due to the over-indulgence over the previous night. There is then an informal competition in the afternoon that is sometimes done in teams and usually has some sort of product prize for the younger skaters but always decided the King of the Park of the more experieced skaters which decides who is next to retain the Livi wooden globe trophy. The trophy is a globe about 2/3 the size of bowling ball made completely from old skateboards.

The weekend always has a lot of people, a lot of skating, a lot of partying, music and barbecueing.

Over the last 2 years the skateparty hasn't been officially organised. No toilets sorted out, no skips, no sound system, no council or police informing, no magazine advertising. People still turn up and skate right through the day and into the night on the last weekend in June, still skate, still party and still have fun. All just on a micro scale compared to previous years.

The skate party basically outgrew itself and I for one think it is a good thing that it has come to this. The skate party was starting to attract lots of non-skaters more interested it the partying rather than the true meaning of the event. Trouble was starting to become more and more frequent. Another thing is that a lot of the organising ended up in the hands of the great Kenny Omond who can now lay down his sword. It was a real shame he got lumbered with it way past what he was comfortable with.

This was taken just before midnight and the aura of the skate party was still there. The skating was there, the music, the fun, the partying. All on a micro scale.

It was as busy tonight as the skate park could be on any given sunny Saturday so I think the date will remain in the scottish skating conciousness and sometime in the future it may be re-ignited.