stuff that people want to watch and get
pumped on. Some stops have a crowd
and it’s sweet to put on a show, but
for us it’s mainly about progression.
Some of the events are more low-key
because of the location and conditions
– sometimes we only get to ride once
in a week if the weather sucks and we
have to be flexible and free for that
small window, instead of trying to jump
sh*t in the wind for spectators.
Nick Pescetto: Yeah, there wasn’t
a contest scene or any events that
we liked or were proud of, so we got
together and created something we
would be pumped to ride and would
have full control of.
Kyle Jameson: The best way I’ve
heard it described is Fest is by riders
for riders. It’s probably the best vibe
you could ever want at an event. It’s
a nice, tight family vibe and we’re just
doing what we want to do.
So how did Fest start? Who initiated
it?
Nick: The initial concept (before Fest
was created) came from “Makken”,
one of our riders from Norway who
holds the Hillbilly Huckfest. That
event was kinda the first thing that we
thought was different from anything
else. It was bigger jumps on big bikes,
there was no schedule except to ride,
make a sick video and party. We had
so much fun, we thought we should try
and get some people together and see
what we could do.
Kurt: Yeah, after Norway we talked
about it and kept in contact all winter.
Then Agassiz put on Aggy’s Reunion
at Kamloops and everything else fell
into place.
Nick: We actually didn’t know that it
was going to happen. After Aggy’s
event we were like ‘okay, this is
really happening’, you know. People
were super-stoked on the content,
so we thought ‘let’s do this’. We had
something good going and we needed
to take care of it. Then everyone else
put on their own events like Sorge’s,
Makken’s, then Nico Vink got involved
and built the biggest jumps ever at
Loose Fest and then, yeah, we were
doing it.
Andreu: For me, Fest started because
we were all over being pushed to ride
stuff we weren’t really pumped on,
because it was either too small or
wrongly built. We’re just doing our own
thing and not looking at anyone else.
What has the response to Fest been
like from the fans and industry?
Kyle: I feel everyone’s been superstoked on the footage a nd content
we’ve produced and they want to see
more. They want to see a more defined
line between slopestyle and freeride. I
think the Fest Series has helped define
exactly what freeride is.
Kurt: Fest is the perfect series leading
up to Red Bull Rampage. Rampage
is the biggest event in the world, but
no-one wants to support freeriding or
what it takes to prepare yourself for
Rampage, but then they expect you to
go out and win the gnarliest contest
of the year! We’re standing up for
ourselves now and saying this is what
we want to ride and this is how we
want the sport to progress.
Are you surprised at how popular
Fest has become?
Andreu: Yeah I think we’re all
surprised, but mountain biking is
huge and there’s a lot of people with
downhill bikes and they want to see
people doing crazy stuff on them.
That’s what we do! It’s not like we’re
doing anything new; we just want to
ride. We want to ride big stuff and we
build it and ride it and don’t care u
“We’re not thinking about how big and
popular the series could get. We’re all just
pumped on riding at the moment and it ’s
working.”
– Andreu Lacondeguy
80 | FreestyleXtreme.com