It is unbelievable that our small scene has so many things going on. Just recently we all hung out with Karlis Bogustovs on the opening ceremony of Maxlas’ box and quarter. Straight Forward Skateboards premiered ‘Viss Taisni’ just a couple weeks ago. A lot is going on. We added some fuel to the fire last Saturday with the premiere of our “Latgalian Cruise” video and photo zine presentation.
So, last July we went on a 4 day trip around Latgale. The trip was independent from shops and crews meaning that anyone was welcome to come. We ended up with a 20 people crew. The trip resulted in a 16 minutes video and a ~100 page zine. Both got presented to the public on 9th of October at Gin&Beer Taphouse—Zefirs.
The crowd was big. With all the COVID situation this might have been the last party this year.Some respected Latvian skaters graced us with their presence—Pardaugavas OG Marcis RuiķisFirst Latvian certified skate coach and the goat—Egons Avots.Niklavs “Where’s-the-podcast?” Vetra and Toms Bika, OG VX master.Mysterious DJ Vairis scratched some tune for us.Mister IZI KCNH himself! The most important person at every skate gathering.Youngster getting some inspoOne Arturs organized the trip and the premiere. Another Arturs shot all photos and made a zine. Well, guys named Arturs don’t fuck around.Rob and Gaba. Two filmers behind the cruise.Our Made Gvido Valters provided some jams with his band Viral Mind as well as some oysters.Two die hard fans of Latvian skateboarding—Mr. Shenga and Mr. Aigarini.Rudik “Big Tuna” Rorbahs looking dangerous in his stylish vintage kit.Got a stack of Welcome drinks for everyone. Big shout out to Lielvardes and Mangali.Gaba gave a big drunk speech. Yeee, Love y’all!The whole Latgalian crew was invited on stage one by one.Martiņš Reitups, tour’s young technician.Latgalian CruisersAfter the video everyone could get their hands on the zine! Mr. Boga’s work could finally become a national treasure,Get them while their hotAnd that’s it!
Huge thank you to everyone who helped out with the event: Toms Bika, Rudolfs Henčels, Arturs Bogdanovičs, Armands IZI KCHN, Vairis Kveps, Nauris Dollins, Gvido Valters and the Viral Mind, Zefirs, Lielvarde, Mangali and everybody else who gave a hand. Of course it wouldn’t be possible without Arturs Nesaule and his mad organization skills. Respect.
Thank you to everyone who supports Latvian skateboarding!
“Latgalian Cruise” going online on Friday 15th of October. Zines will be available in the finest shops soon.
