stuck in . The sound of slapping was just incredible . We were lucky that our jumps were 100 % ready earlier in the week , so all that was needed was maintenance to get them ready in time .”
But as far as the absolute highlight of the entire weekend , both brothers are unanimous . The Tyler Bereman show during the late evening freeride contest was by far one of the gnarliest things either of them had ever seen thrown down on their farm . And after nine Farm Jams , multiple on-location filming sessions and a lifetime of riding themselves , that ’ s saying something .
“ I can ’ t express the amount of yank that Tyler could get off that 160ft jump ; I was absolutely beside myself watching him hit that jump at that speed , then throwing the bike around like it was nothing .”
“ Yeah that was the highlight for sure ,” concurs Brett . “ Usually the BMX contest takes the cake , but this year it was absolutely Tyler . It was golden hour in the hills , everyone was happy , the jumps were drying out , and all the pushy riders were there watching and having their minds blown . I think they were quite humbled by the sending that went down on Friday night . They ’ ve never had the opportunity to see that side of the Farm Jam before as they ’ re usually practicing ; the crossreferencing between all the riders was high , and that ’ s what we ’ re all about .”
Looking Forward
So , where to from here ? What could 2020 hold , and how can the event step up even further from the quantum leap that took place from 2016 to 2018 ?
Truthfully , even the Frews aren ’ t sure , and just quietly , they ’ re not too worried .
“ We used to change things up all the time , but we ’ re at the point now where everyone loves it so much , they ’ ll come back even if we left it the same ,” elaborates Brett . “ We could just roll the same thing out again and people will still be as excited as they were this year . But we haven ’ t hit perfection yet , so we ’ ll keep striving for that .”
“ When you watch BMX dirt at X Games , the courses are so simple and they never have anything
“ We ’ ve always
steered our events towards good vibes and it ’ s always turned out pretty well
different ,” adds Dan . “ If you ’ re lucky there ’ re four jumps in a row , and man , we ’ ve got 25 jumps over the two courses , which is plenty , and none of the riders can ever get enough of them .”
Don ’ t get the boys wrong – they ’ re not stepping aside and letting Farm Jam trickle along for future events , but they ’ re aware there ’ s not a lot of room for expansion , especially when it comes to the man-hours that are needed to create some crazy new feature or idea .
“ It ’ s more about changing other parts of the experience ,” says Brett . “ This year we changed up the catering , which was a massive thing for us . We had our own lamb being cooked , but we were worried about bringing someone else in to do the food and still keeping it cool . It ’ s like owning a café and making your own muffins , which everyone loves . But then you start buying muffins in to make life a bit easier , and there ’ s a risk that people won ’ t like them as much . We were kind of in the same boat !”
Managing Interest & Growth
Already though , there ’ s been a massive international interest after Tyler Bereman ’ s whip and freeriding videos spurred the action sports industry into a frenzy .
“ Carey Hart , Axel Hodges , Twitch , Doug Parsons … they ’ re all guys who ’ re lining up for an invitation in 2020 , but how do we capitalise on that ?” muses Dan . “ Truthfully , I ’ m not sure Farm Jam is capable of handling that sort of level , both from a riding and a crowd capacity point of view .”
“ We ’ ve also always placed an emphasis of keeping the event grassroots and for the locals as well as the internationals ,” adds Brett . “ That ’ s what Farm Jam is all about , and Jackson winning this year played a key part in something like that . Could we have a pro comp and an amateur comp ? Or a two-day event ? Or leverage off the growing popularity of the freeride comp and opening that up to the public ? We don ’ t know yet . There ’ re plenty of options and we need to do some thinking about what we want to do in the future .”
Meanwhile , the Frews have seen requests for their farm to be used as a location venue for films in the past . As well as the Anthill Films 2013 production # NotBad , last year saw the biggest name in MTB , Brandon Semenuk , use the picturesque hills to film his insane video Simplicity .
It ’ s a side of their venture that the Frews are keen to explore more in the future , but not at Hollywood blockbuster level just yet .
“ We ’ re really keen to step that side of things up , but we don ’ t want to stick our hands up too far until we have better facilities that are needed for big-budget stuff ,” reveals Dan . “ Our hands are definitely up for things like catalogue shoots , specialist films like Simplicity , # Notbad , and things like that . We want to create the hype , and we know we have a destination that ’ s a fantastic place to ride .”
Regardless of what happens in the future , you can guarantee the Frew Farm will always be heavily focused on providing good vibes , a great atmosphere and incredible dirt .
“ We ’ ve always steered our events towards good vibes and it ’ s always turned out pretty well ,” explains Brett . “ While we ’ re open to options in the future we ’ ll always try and keep the integrity of Farm Jam , so it ’ s about dirt , the mingling of local and international riders across different sports , and keeping them happy . Happy riders and good dirt is a good recipe we don ’ t want to change .” t
/ FarmJam2013 @ Farm _ Jam
FARM JAM 2018
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