GBB.11 Were You There?
GBB.11 “all about good times, healthy lifestyle, chilled beach culture and a cool festival vibe”, Year 1, and those that were noble and joined us and can now proudly say “We were there at the beginning!” For their troubles, they are now proud owners of the much talked about ‘Butter Card’, a reward card with a whole host of benefits both for the festival and locally to the area.
Taking place in Llanbedrog, North Wales, 3 miles from Abersoch & a stones throw from some of the best surf spots in the UK, the festival was based at the secluded end of the stunning Llanbedrog beach. With the site on the beach side of the road in the lush Crugan Farm fields, campers were able to enjoy some of the most stunning festival scenery around with views over Cardigan Bay across to Snowdonia and the beach just a 2 minute walk away.
The 4 core sports of surfing, wakeboarding, BMX & skateboarding were most definitely at the core of the festival, with a whole host of other cool activities thrown in for good measure. We had music & comedy too. A hugely credible bouncing mix of old school acts like Aswad, new school chart toppers like Rizzle Kicks, outrageous showboaters like the Cuban Brothers, the latest comedy, magic acts like Piff the Magic Dragon and of course blond bombshell booming beat beauties like Goldierocks.
Friday morning saw the festival fun start down on the beach with the Glass Beach Wake Classic. The sun was shining as the ‘mini festival site’ on the beach took shape; with the Sunkist Beach Stage, the Caribbean style beach bar and food stalls instantly gave the festival vibe GBB.11 were looking for.
On the water the mix of amateur and pro wakeboarders enjoyed the world-leading wake from the awesome Nautique boat, courtesy of the guys from Loch Lomond Wakeboard. Great riding from some stylin’ groms made way for the pro’s; Scotty Broome, Sam Carne, Jonty Green, Dan Jordan, Matt Crowhurst, Jack Hammersley and Kurt Graham to name but a few, took to the water for a rider jam style competition. With a small swell the conditions were not ideal yet the guys pulled out all the stops. With a little professional banter (or heckling if you like) from a certain pro the pressure mounted on each rider to perform.
Back on the beach and there was a laid back atmosphere as the crowds chilled out, basking under the September sun whilst listening to acoustic sets from Benjamin Francis Leftwich & The Kickbacks as well as DJ’s Alex K and Izzy Lawrence on the Sunkist Beach Stage. Making a welcome return to the Lleyn Peninsula, DJ Goldierocks livened things up and took over with help from Scotty Broome, Charlie Young and a few hula hoops, space hoppers and water pistols, creating her own take on Bombora fun!
At the festival site the action was hotting up too as some big guns in skate BMX & scooter tore apart the 8ft King Ramps Midi Pipe with the most outrageous backdrop of Cardigan Bay and Snowdonia mountains. Andy Scott & Chris Oliver (Skate), Sebastian Keep & Martyn Cooper (BMX) & Grit team riders Nathan Weston, Harry Labbett & Sam Laney (Scooter). With a revival like no other, scooters are the latest craze, where even the youngest of riders can be seen throwing down some epic moves at skate parks all over the country.
In the Glass Stage dance tent, Abersoch favourite and legendry DJ, Tim Lyall was joined by Niko on the decks as they whipped the crowd into a frenzy. The Prize Giving for the Amateurs and Juniors took place on the open air Butter Stage before the night got riotous as the Cuban Brothers took to the stage with their own ‘special’ brand of entertainment. Front man Miguel was as always on top form, leaving some of the younger crowd open mouthed as he performed his usual P.C. borderline antics!
Saturday morning and the weather decided to let us experience that rain thing. A festival isn’t officially on the map without enjoying some rain!. Not a problem, bring on Hell’s Mouth Beach – no seriously, this was the location for the Butter Beach Pro surf event. It’s official name is Porth Neigwl but the beach is know worldwide as Hell’s Mouth due to its notorious swell that pushes through from the Atlantic and through the Irish channel. Getting in on the action was Professional Free Surfer Karlee-Anne Mackie from Australia so too were professional wakeboarders Scotty Broome, Matt Crowhurst and Sam Carne who were entering their first surf comps. But the guys who really stole the show were the Welsh riders whose local knowledge of the conditions proved advantageous. There was also great local support for the amateur section too.
With some swell swinging into festival beach the Glass Wake Pro headed to Glasfryn Wake Park on the System 2.0 set up with an impressive turnout of spectators. In addition to the pros there was action from the Open Riders and the junior riders who had ‘won’ the rights to ride with the pros following the Junior competition the previous day. With tips being dished out by the pro’s, youngsters all learnt something new. A serious showcase of world class cable & rail riding then followed by the pros to round off a great session of riding.
Back at the festival site the fun had really kicked in especially in the Glass Tent with skateboard and scooter sessions leading the front room entertainment infront of the crowds pimping it out on the Slouch Couches and Fat Boy bean bags. Rodeo sessions and bubble blowing crazes kicked in too under the parasols white acts like EZ & DJ Buzzword, Saturday Night Heros & Tyrell D kept the beach vibe bouncing under the yellow & blue rays.
Prize Giving on the open air Butter Stage saw the bubbly flowing with Scotty Broome taking first place in the rider judged boat comp and Matt Crowhurst taking first place in the rail comp, Then as if by magic the rain stopped as Piff the Magic Dragon came on stage. On the back of his stand out show at Edinburgh Festival, Piff inspired the crowd with his zany magical comedy show; such lines as “it’s funny because it’s wrong” in reference to his Michael Jackson dancing Chihuahua will stay with us forever!
Next up were the Rizzle Kicks who were obviously in high spirits as they held the number 1 spot with Olly Murs in the singles chart. Bounding around the stage heating up the crowd to a new level and finishing off their set with their infectious hit single ‘Down with the Trumpets’. Next up reggae legends Aswad brought the Caribbean vibe to the stage and found themselves in fierce competition with the euphoric crowd, singing their hits back to them at full volume!
Finishing the night off, headline DJ Goldierocks, fresh from Leeds Festival and Creamfields, took the crowds to another level as she cranked up the base and the big hitters with help from the Rizzle Kicks who returned to join in the dancing frenzy that engulfed the Glass Butter Beach finale.
What a weekend, what an awesome start to the GBB lifestyle. That was just the beginning – the best is yet to come. Be part of the next chapter at GBB.12
