Peace, Love, And Unity Through Surfing, Skating, And A Bit Of Chaos

It’s hard to explain Biarritz to the uninitiated.

You’ve got a Hermès store, stone-walled Basque restaurants, a casino, and a literal palace all right in front of a wave where you’ll find either kids landing airs or a thousand people flailing around on Decathlon soft tops depending on the day.

At night, the town is a vortex. There’s something about being surrounded by beautifully designed buildings and sharply dressed people that makes staying out late feel appropriate if not necessary.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by WOODSCÔTE festival (@woodscote_festival)

I had the fortune of living there for six good years. During that time, I’d often come across a crew at the wave mentioned above (Grande Plage). They’d have spray-painted boards and skatey styles, and would post up on the beach drinking beers and playing music. Despite the punk aesthetic, I found them to be nothing but welcoming. They were even kind enough to light some of our team members’ hair on fire during Stab Highway.

And those kids can make shit happen. For the third straight year, they’re bringing the Woodscôte festival to La Côte des Basques in Biarritz. Peace. Love. Unity. Skating. Surfing. Live art. Tattoos. 29 music acts. Zero DJ sets. All packed into three days this weekend. All free. All welcome.

Let’s toss it to the founder, Jordan Sevellec, aka DJOKO, to see how it started:

“Back in 2021, I organized an event without any permits right in the middle of COVID, which landed me in police custody for 48 hours and cost me a hefty fine. After that whole mess, I created the BTZ DOWNHILL association and kept grinding with meetings at city hall until they finally gave me the green light to organize this damn festival — and this year, it’s the second edition!!

At the same time, with Titige and Mathis, we started Keks Machine three years ago, inspired by Beach Head, Chapter 11, and Rage. We wanted to create our own crew, our collective of independent surfers — mainly focused on making surf films and keeping things real KEKS.

By mixing both collectives/both associations, and with all my friends who’ve supported me from the very start, not to mention my dad, a huge inspiration (former organizer of the legendary GLISSEXPO), this whole thing has become possible. And this year, it’s gonna be wild!!”

On the surf program this year, the Alto Pro is back, along with a Trick’s wheel — spin it, paddle out, land the trick you landed on, win cash.

This is all possible with the help of Quiksilver. Between this and the Quiksilver Festival, they’re making damn sure people get together to have a good time in the name of surfing this year. If you can make it to Biarritz this weekend, do it. If not, just know a group of creative locals are pulling off something special in their hometown.

I can fucking guarantee you’ll enjoy it.