The Central Mass longboard event birthed out of a mixture of scenic town hills, a young and blossoming longboard scene, and the increasingly-connected internet community. After uploading some videos of bombing down his hometown hills in Harvard, MA, Mike Girard‘s YouTube viewers kept asking: “Where are these hills? Can we come skate them?” After enough of these comments, Mike decided to put together an event.
Girard decided that an official closed road event was the best way to get the most people involved in the safest manner while keeping the town on his side. As a first-time organizer with no prior experience, Mike reached out to Loaded and Orangatang for advice and support. Kyle Chin provided valuable feedback and helped shepherd Mike through the experience. The first Central Mass ended up a great success, with over 50 riders and the first-ever event to be covered by Push Culture News [video]. In year 2 the event expanded to roughly 150 participants; by year 3, nearly 250 riders came out to this rustic town. The downhill race and slide jam all managed to squeeze into one day, but it was clear that a second day would offer safer and more enjoyable riding for all.
In this fourth year, the Central Mass event is expanding substantially. The Board of Selectmen, with the strong recommendation of Harvard Police Chief Ed Denmark, unanimously approved Girard’s application for an expansion to a full weekend affair. As always, there will be insurance, haybales, on-site ambulance, police detail, bus shuttling, premium sponsors, exhibitor tents, a huge rider showing, partnership with local skate shop Eastern Boarder, and exciting riding throughout; New for 2013 are 8 more hours of sanctioned closed roads for Day 2 on an all-new slide hill, food and media partners, expanded local and national media outreach, built ramp features, live announcing, a larger cash podium, less crowded slide heats, and a party on the night of the 17th.
To help grow the event and share the story of the northeast skate scene, Girard reached out to Wheelbase Magazine’s editor-in-chief Marcus Bandy. Between organizational advising, pre-event publicity, live announcing, photo recaps, exclusive media coverage and expanded industry outreach, this partnership will be a great resource for Central Mass 4. We are excited to announce this partnership - More major releases and sponsorship announcements will follow shortly. Bring on the stoke!
Central Mass has been a labor of love for me and, I hope, a way to join together the greater east coast community. It has grown immensely, and this year I wanted to grow it beyond just our region. I wanted to reach out to someone who knows the industry, supports the scene and is experienced with event organization. That’s why I brought on Marcus and Wheelbase Magazine as a main partner: to help spread the word across coasts, ensure a smooth and stoke-worthy event, and produce some kickass media. I am amped to have Wheelbase Magazine on board - they’ve already been a big help! - Mike Girard, Head Honcho.
To learn more, check out the following:
FB event page
skatecentralMA.com
Lastly, here is some early preview media for this year:
Skate the East
Harvard Press
Nashoba Publishing
Central Mass 3 Recap
3 Responses to Central Mass 4 Longboard Festival - August 17th & 18th