The event of the year for all skater fans: Skateboard Festival „Collision Course” took place on the 30th of April 2011, Saturday for the fifth time in Ruse. The place of the event was the Skate Park behind the City Philharmony (Dom na Kulturata). Bulgarian and Romanian skate teams were registered at 10:00 a.m. for participation in the contest, which was officially started at 12:00.
More than fifty participants pitted their strength against each other in Parkour and Best Trick competitions. 300 spectators followed the competition under the scorching sun. After the awards show in the evening in the Skate Park there was a concert of the German guest-musicians the Indie-Group Cloudberry and the singer Arlito. Support band was the Bulgarian group “Perfect Skies”.
Concert with “Cloudberry” and “Arlito” from Germany
Cloudberry are three idealists with megalomania: Marco is a manic songwriter addicted to American Indie Rock and English Britpop. Thomas is a passionate drummer with a great technique and his own records studio. And Sebb is responsible for the bass and all the Cloudberry’s videos. After several live shows with German stars like Nada Surf, Editors, Ash and The Breeders the trio presented in Berlin their fourth album in 2010.
The German singer and songwriter Arlito is always ready to travel and always getting involved in different musical projects – everything ranging from Punk Rock to Hip Hop and Heavy Metal. On the basis of his great experience he has created his own Indie style. Apart from his concerts in Germany and Switzerland he is also well known in the States.
Graffiti Workshop on the 1st of May in Canetti-House
After the competition and the concerts on the 30th of April on the following day we went on with our programme: A Graffiti Workshop started on the 1st of May 2011 at 11:00 a.m. in Canetti House (Slavjanska Str. 12). The German graffiti expert David Bethmann and 20 young people from Ruse and the region ran through the theory and practice of the graffiti art. He also highlighted some important moments in the history of street art and gave us a glimpse in the latest trends. Afterwards he and the participants indulged in the practice – diligent spraying session of style-writings on large size boards.
Photo documentary of the workshop (PDF)
The festival managed to give a blast to the joung skater and musical audience in Bulgaria and to establish new contacts with the international scene. The festival was a wonderful opportunity for exchange of new trends and gave the participants in the contest and the workshop new creative impulses.
The two-day event on the 30th of April and on the 1st of May was organized by The International Elias Canetti Society and Skate Shop 360°, with the financial support of Goethe-Institute Bulgaria, the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the Ruse Skateboard Club, Asto Metal, Networx Bulgaria, Language School „Faros“ and the Ruse Municipality.
