Good weather, great skating, amazing crowd, and an even better vibe, all combined to make BOWLZILLA Gold Coast 2021 the best one yet.

A solid weekend of rain was predicted all week and in the end it didn’t show. Almost as if it knew to not get in the way of the biggest Park Skating event in the country since Australia got shutdown last year straight after BOWLZILLA Gold Coast. It seemed fitting that the last event before COVID lockdown would also be the first major event since reopening.

The whole week went great. Starting off with the Yeah Girl and Gold Coast Skateboard Coaching free Learn to Ride Womxn’s clinic at Tugun Skatepark. That positive community outreach set the tone for the rest of the week. Yeah Girl continued things on with free workshop for womxn to develop their skating documentary skills on Thursday night and all the participants then were given press passes for the competition on Saturday to further hone their new abilities. Beach Burrito Company and Red Bull hosted the welcome party the same night for all the intercity and interstate attendees which went down a treat.

It seemed nothing was going to stop the main event on Saturday and no one was leaving until it was done. COVID affected all parts of the event; planning, funding, infrastructure, attendance and running but the one thing it did was really lift everyone’s spirit of community. BOWLZILLA Gold Coast is a community based and focused event and this year that really shone bright. So many people and organisations went that step further to ensure that the festival went on regardless and that everyone attending enjoyed themselves in ways almost forgotten over the last year.

From Gold Coast City Council ensuring safety measures were easy to implement and the event was funded, to Tourism & Events Queensland helping promote the festival to the regions, Dickies and Yeah Girl funding divisions so there was adequate and equitable prize money, Donny Fraser and his team from Australian Skateboarding Federation really going above and beyond to help manage entry and judging requirements and then the whole BOWLZILLA production team headed up by Nikki Lovelace and her trusty sidekick Jay Hetherington, Sean Goff and Rob Ayton even found ways of assisting all the way from England. They say it takes a village but everyone’s efforts this year somehow felt greater than that. It felt more like family.

It is understandable that many did not or could not attend given the world is yet to actually transition through the COVID situation but it has been unanimous from those that attended that regardless of everything, this year’s BOWLZILLA Gold Coast was the best so far.

“Those of us that are “lifers” in skating like to tell tales of how our community is caring and open and supportive like no other. What we saw this year with BOWLZILLA Gold Coast and the extra work and support that everyone gave to make it happen, affirms these folkloric stories. I am truly humbled to be a part of such a great skate community. A HUGE THANK YOU from the BOWLZILLA family goes out to everyone involved; sponsors, supporters, skaters, media and fans alike. With friends and family like ours it feels like anything is possible. BOWLZILLA Gold Coast 2022 will be brighter than the sun!” Chad Ford; BOWLZILLA – Director.

Sponsors and prize givers for BOWLZILLA Gold Coast 2021 were: Gold Coast City Council, Tourism & Events Queensland, Yeah Girl, Dickies, Santa Cruz Skateboards, Independent Trucks, Vans, Fiik Electric Skateboards, Gold Coast Skateboard Coaching, Beach Burrito Company, GoPro, FUEL TV, Red Bull, Grassfires Magazine, Girl’s Skate Gold Coast, Truck Stop Skate Shop and Australian Skateboarding Federation.

The final placings for BOWLZILLA Gold Coast 2021 are;

YEAH GIRL SKATEBOARDING – WOMXN – equal cash prize purse with Open, prizes donated by Girls Skate Gold Coast.

1st Ruby Trew – ASF Australian Park Skating Champion 2021

2nd Taniah Meyers

3rd Poppy Olsen

4th Indiana Barnard

5th Zahra Johns

6th Aaliyah Wilson

7th Aimee Massie

8th Tora Waldren

9th Heili Sirvio

10th Arisa Trew