BOWLZILLA Gold Coast 2024 Finals

For the ninth year in a row BOWLZILLA Gold Coast delivered the Australian Skateboarding Federation’s National Park Skating Championships to a raging audience and a raucous field of competitors. There were big differences this year in both and as a result everyone in attendance said it was the best one for years.

Energy levels were high and everyone there was up for the best day’s skating on the Gold Coast all year. So a bit of rain and a lot of humidity did not deter anyone. The crowd stayed through the showers and pitched in to dry the bowl during the breaks in rain and screamed louder for everyone each time the skating took off again. There’s no crowd like a Gold Coast skate crowd.

NIMBIN GNAR-WALLS RIPPING IN THE HINTERLAND

NIMBIN GNAR-WALLS 04/03/2023 – Nimbin Skatepark

NIMBIN GNAR-WALLS is launching the first week of March with 4 days of skating, music and gnar-factor 100!

Four days in The Hinterland filled with music, art and skating will be getting everyone hyped. More fun, bigger challenges, go fast, make the friends, rip the concrete and have at it. Skaters will be getting it around Lismore with an Under 18s Flea Circus at Goonellabah full of fun and challenges, art shows and music and then the main Gnar-Walls rally at Nimbin Skatepark on Saturday 4th March. Don’t expect the ordinary and only come for fun.

Lismore Council and NSW Government are supporting the local skate community and bringing back friends and family from all points for a final summer celebration or skating. Local businesses and local legends are all getting on board to ensure the famous Hinterland hospitality is turned up to 11.

"When you’re given the support to do something a bit different that gives back to the community in ways not often possible then you should grab hold of that opportunity and invite everyone along to celebrate it to the fullest. The whole week of NIMBIN GNAR-WALLS is about fast paced good times. It will be another epic chapter in the legend of Nimbin.” Chad Ford – Event Director

All the things that make skaters lifers will be in full effect for the week. Good times, rad concrete, crazy challenges, road tripping, camping, live bands rocking it out on the platform, huge gatherings of epic skaters, art, parties, generations deep with gnarly skating and bags of cash rewards for everyone that turns up the stoke levels.

NIMBIN GNAR-WALLS is getting everyone together for a ripping week in The Hinterland. Pack your bags and get there.

BOWLZILLA Wellington – BARRIER BREAKING

BOWLZILLA Wellington is going to be the Celebration Capital on the 5th of March, capping off an amazing year of skateboarding Breaking Barriers. New Zealand’s National Park Skating Championships are returning once again to crown the Nation’s best skaters.

BOWLZILLA always delivers the biggest week of skating in New Zealand and nothing gets in the way. Through border closures and travel restrictions the celebrations continue. This March marks the seventh year of Wellington’s skateboarding festival bringing everyone together.

2021 saw the largest gathering ever of fans and competitors from outside of Wellington for the BOWLZILLA celebrations and given the massive increase in participation in skating the last two years the larger attendance is expected to continue.

Gathering friends and family together to celebrate them and the awesome community that is skateboarding is always the most important part of the week. The weeklong festival highlights all of this through art shows, music, barbecues, catch ups and of course the competition.

“Wellington City Council is excited to welcome back the annual BOWLZILLA Wellington event. Following the debut and success of so many incredible skaters at the Olympics, we look forward to seeing these athletes in action at the National Championships in the Capital. An incredible opportunity for our community to witness the skill of these skaters. To all of those competing at BOWLZILLA Wellington 2022 – we look forward to seeing you in action.” Mayor Andy Foster

It is fair to say this seventh year of BOWLZILLA Wellington is a triumphant celebration given the last couple of years. The growing field of inter-city fans and competitors, the full week of festival happenings and the continuing growth in participation will all be culminating in the biggest week of skating seen so far in New Zealand. The competitors will be going all out to give everyone the best show of the year with Tech Deck 16 & Under, Women, Masters 40+ and Opens. Everyone is welcome to come along and cheer and be part of the whole festival for free.

Wellington City Council, Wellington Skateboarding Association, Redhead or Dead Events and Miryoku Agency have joined forces once again to bring this fantastic festival to the New Zealand skaters.

“Skateboarding in New Zealand has seen a lot of change since the inception of BOWLZILLA Wellington seven years ago. Through all of the developments we have worked extra hard to stay consistent in our support and representation or our clan because they are our friends and family. No matter how big the skateboard, event or organisation, we have not been distracted and beguiled from doing our part to present our community how they feel they want to be. BOWLZILLA has and always will be the voice of the people and the platform for them to create opportunity for all. Everyone is invited to come enjoy, participate and celebrate with us.” BOWLZILLA Director – Chad Ford.

BOWLZILLA was born out of likeminded friends in the skateboard community looking for new platforms to promote the extraordinary talents of their friend’s talents that run in oversupply within skateboarding but are not often seen in the outside world. BOWLZILLA Wellington is the biggest platform for showcasing all of this amazing talent in skateboarding in New Zealand. There is an open invite for everyone to come and be part of the celebration.

There will be more information coming in the New Year about all the great events and sponsorships happening as part of BOWLZILLA Wellington 2022.

All photos: David Read for Manual Magazine

BOWLZILLA Wellington 2020 highlights

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BOWLZILLA CAPITAL RAISING

Wellington City Council, Redhead or Dead Events, Skateboarding New Zealand and Miryoku Agency raised the Capital with the New Zealand 2019 National Park / Bowl Skating Championships with BOWLZILLA Wellington.

SBNZ made sure the New Zealand National Skateboarding Park / Bowl competition series was the best run, attended and most unexpected fun so far. The level of all parts of the festival were raised higher this year with great success.

Weather is always a factor in Wellington but nothing gets in the way of a determined skater. With the rain finally coming down after three months of unprecedented sun in Wellington and only allowing Open heats to be run at the bowl a quick decision had to be made. Manky Chops Gallery generously offered their awesome new mini ramp that was built for Manky Deck-Aid to be utilised to its fullest, and MINIZILLA was born. The Women, Masters and 16 & Unders all finished out the event riding indoors with a format change that proved incredibly fun and popular.

Manky Chops and BOWLZILLA have a fantastic partnership going back many years which is focused around ARTZILLA every year as part of the BOWLZILLA Wellington festival. This year the Manky Chops team went above and beyond with their ten-year anniversary show; Deck-Aid, which saw 100 skateboard decks painted and sculpted by as many artists especially for the exhibition, with a huge part of the proceeds going to several worthy charities. As part of this they also custom built a mini ramp which ended up saving the day and elevating the fun and comradery to unexpected levels. Congratulations Dave, Pearl and the family for all you’ve achieved and give back.

Thanks to Yeah Gnar this is the second year of BOWLZILLA Wellington being the largest Equality in Skateboarding event in New Zealand. This support has really seen the talent in the Women’s division develop exponentially. Regardless of the Olympics and whatever else lay ahead, the emerging Women’s skateboard scene is having the most positive impact on skateboarding in a long time. The fact that it is part of the whole of BOWLZILLA Wellington makes the festival that much more fun and important for the community.

The New Zealand National Champions for 2019 are; Women – Rhya Henare, 16 & Under – Rimus Henare, Pabst Masters – Steve Crump, Open – Shaun Boucher.

The interest in skateboarding is growing and that could clearly be seen by the doubling of competitors in the 16 & Unders, and larger fields for the other divisions. Pabst Blue Ribbon beer generously stepped up this year to support the Pabst Masters division and all the other sponsors and encouragers ensured a larger level of support for all the skaters and should all be thanked for the generosity: Wellington City Council, Skateboarding NZ, Manual Magazine, Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer, Fusion Surf / Skate, Skullcandy, Irrom Distribution, GoPro, Vans, Manky Chops, Red Bull, Redhead Or Dead Events and Miryoku Agency. Because of all of them there was NZ$12,000 in prize money and more than $2000 worth of prizes. Every competitor was over the moon to be able to benefit from the biggest prize pool in New Zealand.

BOWLZILLA Wellington 2019 placings:

OPEN

1 Jakob Robinson

2 Shaun Boucher – New Zealand Champion

2 Jett De Haan

4 Bowman Hansen

5 Josh Wilson

6 Chris Wood

7 Barry Taniwha

8 Chris Curran

9 Mike Bancfroft

10 Brodie Jarret

11 Jordan Nunns

12 Felix McZiveneg

13 Tyler Holdsworth

14 Brent Muskat

15 Shannon Boyd

16 Orson Reynolds

17 Luke Hayward

18 James Tuckey

19 Ned Simpson

20 Patrick Moessen

21 Ken Maaka Pakaariki

22 Scott Wilkinson

23 Kyle Monaghan

24 Callum McInnes

WOMEN

1 Taniah Myers

2 Paula Costales

3 Rhya Henare – New Zealand Champion

4 Ela Poynter

5 Krysta Ashwell

6 Poppy-Joe Garratt

7 Allanah Wilson

8 Georgia Hudson

9 Amanda Perrin

PABST MASTERS

1 Stephen Crump – New Zealand Champion

2 Ramon Thackwell

3 Dave Crabb

4 Kevin Moran

5 Eddie Elguera

6 Von Griffin

7 Tony Chavez

8 Aaron Animal Bell

9 Nic Couscouris

10 Robin Oneleg

11 Mason Lockyer

16 & Under

1 Zane Hetherington

2 Rimus Henare – New Zealand Champion

3 Mitch Jordan

4 Joshua Godward

5 Rico Henare

6 Niwa Shewry

7 Leroy French

8 Max Hancock

9 Ephram Stocks

10 Zedyn Fellows

11 Isaiah Godfrey

12 Monty Graham

13 Felix Griffin

14 Carter Williams

15 Orlando Dreaneen

16 Jake Harris

17 Dax De Haan

“BOWLZILLA upheld its reputation of pulling a great crowd of spectators and skaters committed to having fun, in spite of the tumultuous Wellington weather this weekend! Kudos to the community for their versatility and perseverance – the future of New Zealand Skateboarding looks Bright!” Ramon Thackwell – Director, SBNZ.

There was a much larger attendance of internationals this year which really raised the excitement and energy of the locals. Jakob Robinson, Jett De Haan, Brodie Jarret, Brent Muscat, Taniah Myers, Paula Costales, Kevin Moran, Tony Chavez, Nic Couscouris, Zane Hetherington, Dax De Haan and Skateboarding Hall of Fame inductee Eddie Elguera who is considered one of the greatest skateboarders of all time and Tony Hawk’s major influence.

"The fourth year of BOWLZILLA Wellington saw us able to offer greater support to the skaters and generate more interest and opportunity. The newly energised SBNZ board is a real game changer for what we are now able to do for our community and that was reflected in the new support from sponsors and larger attendance. Wellington is one the greatest little cities in the world and being able to work with Wellington City Council in the ways we do to create a festival like BOWLZILLA Wellington which has such great community impact is what encourages us to keep the forward motion. We’re very grateful and humbled for everyone’s support and look forward to many more years of great times for all.” Chad Ford – Director, BOWLZILLA Wellington.

Stay tuned for announcements about BOWLZILLA Wellington 2020.

BOWLZILLA Wellington – Capitol Asset

BOWLZILLA Wellington, Waitangi Park 9/03/2019

This is the year New Zealand skaters are launched onto the world stage via BOWLZILLA Wellington 2019. Big returns are coming for the skaters of New Zealand with the maturation of their skateboarding Capitol Assets.

The road to the Olympic Games for skateboarding begins this year. Qualifying points start accruing the beginning of January for skaters competing in National Titles and other international professional competitions around the world. BOWLZILLA Wellington is the first points awarding Park competition in the world for the year and the beginning of the path.

The annual National skateboard festival BOWLZILLA Wellington is returning for its fourth year with the highlight being the all-encompassing New Zealand National Park / Bowl Skating Titles. SBNZ the National Governing body of skateboarding in NZ, sanctions this event as the National Championships for Park / Bowl skating which sees skaters from all around the country and expats flying in to have a craic. The festival includes an art show, some parties and music and an old school ramp jam and barbecue. It is the greatest week of skateboarding in New Zealand and everyone is invited to join in the celebrations.

“It is only fitting that Wellington is home to the National Titles of Park Skateboarding – BOWLZILLA Wellington. We are very proud of our creative and healthy community here in Wellington and the promotion of our fantastic lifestyle to the world through this event is brilliant. As skateboarding enters into the Olympics and Wellington becomes a pathway for our local athletes, we look forward to growing this festival and the benefits it has on our community for years to come”. Justin Lester; Mayor of Wellington, New Zealand.

There is increasing interest and participation in the competition each year and with the Olympic points opportunity thrown in it is going to make the choice of the next National Champions for 16 & Under, Women, Masters 40+ and Pro/Am Open all the more difficult. With 2018 being the first Equality in Skateboarding event ever held in New Zealand, thanks to Yeah Gnar NZ, this year there is going to be a larger and more inspired international field in the bowl.

“Over the years, New Zealand has produced some of the world's most talented skateboard professionals: Gregor Rankin, Dave Crabb, Lee Ralph and Andrew 'Morri' Morrison. The path was gruelling, and their professional careers always began overseas. This year Skateboarding NZ (SBNZ) received international sanctioning as New Zealand's National Sports Organisation for skateboarding. Several New Zealand competitions are now on the World Skate calendar for Oceania, including BOWLZILLA Wellington as the National Titles. Skateboarding NZ now offers a local platform with international standing so kiwi skaters can begin their professional journey here at home. Starting off the year with BOWLZILLA Wellington is fantastic - for a small country we’re making big steps this year." Ramon Thackwell, Director – SKATEBOARDING NEW ZEALAND – SBNZ

Wellington City Council, International Skateboarder’s Union, Redhead or Dead Events, Skateboarding New Zealand and Miryoku Agency have joined forces to create this fantastic opportunity for New Zealand skaters.

“Whatever lay ahead for skaters with the new Olympic stage we will be here supporting our friends in the skateboard community. We have built a gathering to unite those who love what we do and celebrate the skaters who inspire us to have as much fun as possible on four wheels. Even if you know nothing of skating, we guarantee that time spent at any of the BOWLZILLA Wellington celebrations will turn you into a fan. Come and enjoy the good times with us in Wellington.”  BOWLZILLA Director – Chad Ford.

BOWLZILLA was born out of likeminded friends in the skateboard community looking for new platforms to promote the extraordinary talents of their friends, talents that run in oversupply within skateboarding but are not often seen in the outside world. BOWLZILLA Wellington is the biggest platform for showcasing all of this amazing talent in skateboarding in New Zealand. There is an open invite for everyone to come and be part of the celebration.

The will be more information coming shortly about all the great events happening as part of BOWLZILLA Wellington 2019.

BOWLZILLA Gold Coast 2018 highlights

BOWLZILLA Wellington 2018 highlights