Woodscôte: A Surf/Skate/Music/Art Festival With Zero DJs

If Stab High Japan can be used as a sartorial barometer for upcoming trends, boardshorts seem to have resumed their dreadful race toward the ankles.

While past generations fought long and hard to defeat the one Y2K virus that we should have actually been concerned about, Gen Z appears hellbent on exhuming the era’s long-buried, decomposing carcasses.  

Seeking refuge in nostalgia may be a symptom of disillusionment with the present. France’s potential shift towards a far-right government seems at odds with the celebratory debauchery that have drawn hordes of maniacs with surfboards and other paraphernalia to the Basque Country for decades.

Jordan Sevellec and the team behind the success of the inaugural BTZ DOWNHILL — an unsanctioned, grassroots event that gathered upwards of 2,500 people during the throes of Covid — are back with a three-day festival celebrating music, skateboarding, surfing, visual arts, and overall good times at Côte des Basques, the iconic beach that harbored the growth of surfing in this part of the world.

With the support of Quiksilver and Sun Bum, the boys at Keks Machine (torchers of McKenzie Bowden’s dome) and Nothend are throwing a very straightforward rendition of a professional surf contest with a “cash for tricks” format: Do something big, and get compensated as soon as you set foot on dry land.

In addition, and in the throwback spirit of the festival, floaters are back with the second edition of the Floater Contest, previously judged by Stab High Japan winner Eithan Osborne.

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The region’s history has been synonymous with defiance and resistance to the status quo. Even Napoleon himself broke prejudices when he decided to bathe in its waters in 1808. It’s only fitting that a festival celebrating counterculture takes place here.

To interested parties, there are still four days left to get your affairs in order and make your way to the Bay of Biscay.

Stab would like to wish all festivalgoers a speedy Monday morning recovery in advance.

Click here for additional information and full festival program.