On October 9th, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on the street of Loudon Road was The Concord Skatepark Jam. The Jam was an event hosted by local skaters and put together by a group of sponsors that included Thrasher, Mob Grip Tape, RedAlert, Snowboard Jones, Vans, and more local and worldwide sponsors. The Skate Jam was put together to bring fun and joy to the community and encourage new and old skaters to come and rip it up!
Its main purpose was to bring awareness to the town of Concord, NH. Letting them know that the town needs a skatepark and if it was removed it would be a big loss. The town itself has been swinging back and forth on the idea of removing the local skate park due to the graffiti and trash once found there.
But, over the last year or so, skaters have been taking the initiative to take care of this park themselves. Either from cleaning up the park with trash cans, bringing in their own ramp creations, or even painting over all the graffiti to make the park look like a new place.
The cost to enter the skate jam was $10, along with differently priced products such as wheels, trucks, decks, and stickers that kids and parents could also buy to show support. All the money earned will soon be put back into the park for renovations. The Concord Skate Jam was the place to be that weekend with live music, good food, and great energy.
In The Jam, we got to see skaters of all genders and age ranges, from the 6-year-old girl and 12-year-old boy killing the quarter pipe, to all the teens and early adults wiping out kickflips like it was second nature. When asking people who participated in the event how they felt it went, there was some amazing feedback.
“The Concord jam was sick and everyone was shredding,” said Olin Heino, a skater participating in the jam. “It was fun and should definitely happen again,” said Heino.
With this being the first-ever skate jam to happen in Concord, it Makes the local skaters interested and hungry for more events to happen at their local park and hope that the town can see the park for what it truly is, a place where kids and adults can all come together and share positivity and knowledge about a sport that has changed the lives of millions.
Some questions are still up in the air about if there will be another contest or jam happening before the snow falls, if the next event will be bigger with more prizes or more brackets for different age groups, or if there will be different sponsors for the event. The next event is still to be determined but it’s safe to say that many are looking forward to it.
