Video: Day 1 Sends from Darkfest 2024

 Does fest series even exist anymore?

 @T-Bot: yeah loosefest, royalfest, huckfest and fest sessions polska still happen.

 there never was beef, just dumb commenters

 @luckynugget: SRs comments on it at the time didn't make it sound like it was amicable.

"Unfortunately for freeride fans, the Fest series has implemented some new rules for their events which included limitations on who we could and couldn't invite, and controlling and limiting media output from the event. Since DarkFest has always been about shredding big jumps, having an inclusive and diverse rider list, and sharing our good times with everyone through social media, we have mutually decided to go our own ways.

We wish the best for the Fest series and their new direction but assure big air fans we will continue the good times here at DarkFest and can't wait to show you guys what we are up to out here!"

and from NV...

"We, the Fest Series crew decided to announce and make clear that Darkfest is no longer part of Fest Series. Sam Reynolds has been running the event in a way that is going against the core values Fest stands for. We figured it would be better to part ways.

Fest series is a lot more than performance-based, It's about personalities, a lifestyle, a certain dedication to the art of riding bikes and building trails, things that are far more important than how many views or likes a video gets on social media.

We want Fest Series to represent the art and essence of what we believe riding bikes is all about – and hope it can be an example of realness to future generations and whoever else is into bikes.

Ride on

The Fest Series"

smells a little beefy to me.

 Maybe its because the location and the jumps are the same for years now?

 Good morning from a good few hours away from GMT. Video has +40k views in 20hours...People are watching. Once banger tricks start flowing...suspect the comments will to.

 I keep seeing this comment on Darkfest posts. I don't think people are realizing we didn't get as much PRE-event footage back in the day. We used to just get maybe one (or two) hype up video about first sends and then ultimately the FINAL EDITED video. Which is the one that actually draws the most viewers and comments. Darkfest through Sam has taken on a more vlog approach so they film the entire BtS of the set up and warm up days etc. Which, although epic, aren't nearly as interesting as the final day videos. I'm not sure their time table but it may be an entire week. To have the final day on either Fri/Sat/Sun. So we're not even close to the final riding day sends here. And this is also potentially why the Fest series split ways and doesn't support this event. Basically more 'pressure' filming the first hits for youtube. (Which sounds stupid but whatever.) In other words... Be more patient. They are literally just feeling out the first runs. Except for Isted who is a psychopath.

 More likely pinkbike is losing it's fans and following. As stated below the video has a huge amount of views on YouTube. I find myself browsing YouTube daily but this site maybe once a week. Go figure... The death to Redbull TV is where most of it went south for me

 its just getting started

 Maybe because Im South African, but I love the Darkfest content every year, the course is looking super polished and should be the year we see some incredible tricks pulled out the hat. What I also like about Darkfest is its such a good advert for our sport, even non riders can admire the guts and skill involved, maybe PB comments are mainly about internal cable routing or integrated headsets, but Im stoked, Long Live Darkfest!

 @doncouzens: just got my tickets for Saturday

 @Ignaciosc22: 120 footer still to come

 Dude it's 18 minutes long and I haven't finished my first cup o Joe out on the West Coast.. Been seeing tons of clips on IG. Some rad Curtis Downs and Dylan Stark stuff

 My feeling is that the majority of the Pinkbike audience are not people who are interested in Darkfest or freeride content. If you pay attention, freeride content, content with younger riders, or anything revolving around jumping gets very little engagement on the site. Even videos with huge view counts and engagement on YouTube are pretty much DOA on Pinkbike posts. A quick Google search shows Pinkbike's largest age demographic is 45-54, which explains the lack of interest in that type of content. Sure, it's a bit of a spectacle to watch, but it's not relatable for an audience who generally rides green to blue trails and the idea of riding stuff like that is about as far-fetched as going to the moon. Now there's nothing wrong with that, and Pinkbike definitely knows and creates/currates content that has the most appeal to their audience, but it does explain the lack of engagement. Darkfest, freeride, and dirt jumping are all niche categories of mountain biking, and simply put, the audience who are into them aren't sifting through trivial team news, posts about incremental geometry changes, corporate shakeups, etc. They actively follow the content directly from the source via YouTube or social media channels. It also doesn't help that Pinkbike is generally late to the party by days or even weeks when they post that kind of content. There's a comment below that says "Maybe its because the location and the jumps are the same for years now?" that perfectly illustrates that the general PB audience aren't the ones excited about and seeking out that type of content. To the average mountain bike layman they see the course and jumps as being the same. To the audience into that kind of riding, they are looking at nuances of them steeping lips, building up landings, and other small course tweaks that will change how it rides and open up new possibilities. I'll save my thoughts on PB and the vast majority of the MTB industry chasing an aging demographic while doing very little to capture the younger up-and-coming generation of riders for another time, but I did want to throw in my two cents on this subject.

 @lepigpen: I love the format and hope they (The Darkfest gang) don't give a shit about PB engagement. Along with Hardline, this is all I look forward to each year. Seeing the first hits and getting taken along with the riders through the week lets me feel connected to them in a way I otherwise wouldn't.

 @gbones: ya ppl are kinda outing themselves in a few ways by saying 'world cup race content with sleeper co? YES'... then 'darkfest contest with the SAME GUYS and SAME TRACK... ugh this is STALE' like bruh. i hope those are 'diff ppl' or something. pick a lane lol

 I have enjoyed the Darkfest videos. Both the Sam Reynolds vlog (Theo this year) and the official videos. As well as the videos from riders like Dylan Stark. I especially enjoy watching when folks are hitting them for the first time this year or ever.

Also, Agassiz's whips are so dialed and styled.

 It's the same content every year. Unless you are totally invested in freeride and the people. It's just some dude on a bike hitting a jump. And there are 1000000000 videos on social of people hitting jumps. Right now throwing a slushy at a truck is trending. Not kids on bikes.

 I hope you guys are wrong, but that doesn’t mean that you are. I’m in my 50’s and I love this stuff, but I’m also tuning into slope events with my teenager and ride park along with enduro trails. Not many of my friends, who are actually a bit younger are into it, but they also aren’t on PB.

 @bigtim Don't worry, Darkfest is doing great. It's Pinkbike that has a problem. I'm not even sure if it's a target audience difference like @terriblejon says. I'm just one guy, but I'm the opposite of what he says. As time goes by, I visit Pinkbike less and the creators' own channels more. I'm not "less interested in freeride" because I'm close to 40 lol, quite the contrary - love it more and more. I'm less interested in a website that has been getting more bland and boring for several years. If it's mainly reposting other people's content then why would I visit as often as I used to? I have YouTube and other social media, I've seen all this already.

 @bananowy: 100% with you! I'm in my 40s, love freeride, both content, building, and riding. I've also been an industry/media guy off and on for the last twenty years, both contributing to outlets and running my own. A question I often ask myself is where do websites like PB, Vital, and the like really fit into how content is consumed today. Ten years ago they served the purpose as the place where all the relevant content you wanted to see was gathered in one place. Brands and and athletes worked hand in hand to create "exclusive" content that was only available on a particular site, well at least for a bit until it eventually was made public on YouTube or Vimeo. Brands and athletes have since basically become their own media outlets capable of reaching audiences without the need for a website to be a middleman. PB has evolved and done a great job of continuing editorial pieces along with creating plenty of their own original content, but they definitely have a lane that they tend to stay in. Whether that's a reflection of the staff's taste, corporate pressure to appeal to the broadest audience, or whatever, the bias is there. IMO they should take a page from pretty much any other website that covers a genre with many different sub-niches and hire on a diverse range of contributors to cover and generate content from each one.

 @terriblejon: Good to hear insight from someone who's actually been on the other side of bike media. Curious to see where it goes. One point I fully agree with from your previous post is that the industry is clearly targetting moneyed middle aged dads way more than the kids and I'm not sure if that's great long term. Most kids I see on trails these days are there with/because of their riding parents. I almost feel bad for them that they didn't get a chance to discover mtb for themselves and make it something they do to be *away* from the old folks haha. I don't know, maybe it's good for business because a lot of those groms will keep at it as adults with their own money, but in terms of sport progression, kids riding mainly with parents seems a bit limiting to their imagination.