From Our BMX, this a short documentary of the Florideah Swampfest, put on by Trey Jones and his crew, every year, for 7 years now. This video is just a really fun watch, narrated by clips of Trey, explaining the process of building and putting Swampfest on.
BMX freestyle was an activity long before it became a sport. A few kids were riding bikes in empty pools and skateparks in the mid 1970's. Bob Haro started learning flatland tricks and kickturns in the late 1970's. He put on the first BMX "trick riding" demos at races around 1979. Around 1982 or 1983, Bob Morales put on some of the first contests at skateparks, and they were relatively small events, by sports competition standards. It was mostly a bunch of riders. What crowd there was could hang out and mix with the pros, shoot photos up close in many cases, and be real close to the action.
As BMX freestyle grew into a worldwide and legitimate sport, and eventually into huge contest events like the X-Games, Dew Tour, and others, things got more rigid, more formal, more expensive, and ultimately less fun. At the bleachers, paid admission, and wristband events, you can still see amazing riding. But that crazy, anything could happen feel of the backyard jam went out the window.
But through all the 43 or so years of the history of BMX freestyle, there have been smaller, hardcore, lower budget, almost anything goes events. Those are the jams and comps where even spectators have a small chance of being hit by flying bikes or riders. Let's face it, Those are the fun events. Even of there is no pro purse, a bunch of top riders will always show up to the small, hardcore, semi-underground events. For seven years, Trey Jones and his crew have been putting on Florideah Swampfest, and from the videos, it obviously looks like a crazy and fun time for all. So check out the video above, about what it takes to make a Swampfest happen.
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