Everyone was catching some major air during the first annual BMX Festival that took place at the Burbank Skate Park on Saturday.
Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the kids who are passionate about riding, that took a stand for the greater good of BMX. With the support of their parents from writing e-mails, to contacting the City Council, and for all the time that was spent trying to find a place where BMX riders could showcase their talents and practice new tricks.
After a few years and much perseverance, their hard work most certainly paid off. The Burbank City Council granted these deserving kids an expansion to the skate park located on Valley Street, a park that has been apart of the Burbank community for ten years.
Mike Graceffo who has overseen all of this come about said “ They never had a place where they could, legally ride, now the bikers have a place they can go.”
What a great idea to combine the practice field of two awesome sports in one. The expansion of the skate park has brought great benefits to the riders, they now have a safe and supervised space to practice, learn new tricks and just hang out with friends.
The expansion has also, brought piece of mind to all the parents who worked so hard to get this project up and going. Some parents even use the park as a reward system, which has made the kids
work even harder at school to achieve good grades, so they can enjoy the park. The expansion of the skate park has given these kids a sanctuary and the opportunity to be themselves and make new friends and even try new things. Many of the skaters have taken on BMX ridding and love it!
Proper equipment is key, you must have knee pads, elbow pads and a helmet to be able to enter. If you are under the age of 18 a parent consent form is needed. Where can you grab all the cool the gear for BMX ridding you may ask? One of the Bike-Fest sponsors, H&S Cycles here in Burbank, has a great variety of everything BMX . You can also, head to the Burbank Bike Shop for more cool stuff. A great big thank you to these bike shops for supplying the riders with T-shirts and prizes for the festival.
The park is open seven days a week, but has certain days and times that BMX ridding is allowed. Sunday from 3-5pm, Thursday from 4-7pm and Saturday from 5-9pm. So if you want to work on your 180 or a full 360 head on over to the Burbank Bike/ Skate park for a great ridding experience!
Check out this great photogallery of Skate-Fest by BurbankNBeyond photographers Marsha and Brian Sydnor
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