Updated: The Fest Series Parts Ways with Darkfest
The Fest Series has announced it is parting ways with Darkfest and that the South African event will no longer be a part of its calendar. It seems that Darkfest will still be going ahead but it will now be Sam Reynolds' own event, rather than something organized in collaboration with the Fest Series.
It seems that the rift has come about due to the amount of filming and media output allowed from Fest events, plus the riders that can be invited. Fest Series released a statement first, saying, "Sam Reynolds has been running the event in a way that is going against the core values Fest stands for," and "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."
Sam has responded with his own statement shared with Pinkbike. He said, "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!"
The full statement from the Fest Series is below:
Statement: The Fest Series
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
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well presented ,
well shot
engaging content with
broad appeal ( that I would happyshow my nephews)
without obnoxious music (that aleinates 95% of the audience)
to promote your event ,your brand partners and sponsors
You forgot to promote personalities that weren’t at your event and
Building mtb trails with a digger isn’t real. You should have only used pick axs and sand bags on your old jumps
You look far to presentable to be a real mountain biker. It even looks like you have washed yourself and your clothes in the last month
Your such a sellout. Your YouTube views are more than realmtb vids and you haven’t even had your event yet. If you keep this up you might make $1000 from YouTube
Your not real Sam
Your Un-real
@barbarosza:
@SangamonTaylor: Vink has an Instagram account? Yes it seems he does. Fest likewise. But look at the frequency of those accounts' posts and you should be able to see that they're not really into it in the same way as some others.
Who is actually in charge of ‘the fest series’ anyway? I thought it was a riders for riders kind of deal not just a large committee of whinging media phobic (but only towards the fest series, not when it comes to their own sponsor led edits) bellends!
Sorry for the rant, I didn’t mean to anger anyone I’m hungry
The problem is (probably) that Sam became a mouthpiece for Fest and started making money from it. Clearly this led to tensions.
Not saying I agree with any of that, but it seems easy to see what is going on.
Or perhaps Sam slashed Nico's tires
I like Sam and what him and the guys have done with Darkfest, he’s certainly got a good social media presence off his own back.
I just wonder who’s was the initial vote to cast him out of the ‘crew’? Also does this now mean that they have all fallen out with Sam? But harsh I think but who knows what’s happened behind closed doors (keyboards)?!
@schwaaa31: You make it sound more that it probably is. It's a beggars life for almost all of them. Nico probably does okayish, Sam perhaps a bit better, but I'm betting it's not past 5 figures a year
Now Sam is profiting from the other riders. This not nefarious, but of course the other riders think "Hey why does Sam make so many clips while we are suposed to be riding for fun? We also take risks, so what's in it for us?".
Sam has always made vids of the events he does, from the original big jump Pure Darkness event, to the Fest to the nine knights, always - he knows that his job is to show off his gear - this aint a charity, no matter what the purists think - if they want to ride for free, then get a job and buy your own gear and do what you want -
Think about it? Do you know the founders? None of them has a media presence worth more than a frame and some kit. Nico makes money as a trailbuilder, but I bet it's a small wage at best (and what if he gets older/injures himself?). Sam is the only one who probably gets a "good" wage (and works his ass of, not jealous at all).
Just like 50:1 is amateurs with one/two pro's, of which only Rat makes a decent living.
Like I said before; If I am organizing community football and one of the other organizers vlogs and makes good money from it, it would most definitely cause rifts. I most certainly wouldn't like it.
In Sam's defense there is plenty (the pickings are small, he works hard, Darkfest is his child), but the one sided vitriol aimed at the Fest guys is IMHO missing the point. This rift was bound to happen.
Between Red Bull paying absolute garbage to Rampage riders, I'm sure Sam is starting to pull some coin, & ppl didn't like how it was being distributed.
SM posts aren't s**t without talent. The Darkfest lineup this year is pretty sad
Darkfest is amazing. Fest series is amazing.
But they are different, now darkfest can grow along side audi 9 knights crankworx and other performace events and fest series can stay free of sponsor/media pressures.
Seems like the best thing for both of them.
Sam on the other side is used to represent himself, his supporters and to throw content out in a regular basis. Both guys love to shred and I'm sure they still will be seen in a wild train somewhere in chatel or where ever they meet.
Before you guy throw stones and hate, go back and remember why and how the fest series came to life...
These guys needed to escape the treadmill of the current media events, where the events had a sole purpose to create stock images, videos and content for the big money brands and the riders had to build and ride courses they didn't see as save. Because some brands have pushed riders in the past to go out and ride shit events to boost their social media platforms...
There might be some of that flavour still cooking in some of these guys and I can understand both sides.
Check my words below on xgames
I agree, that it's not a bad thing necessarily that they have parted ways. The issue here is how they did it. They didn't have to publicly "shame" Sam for him doing his job how he sees fit. I am one of the main builders who maintains our local jump park, and if one of my buddies was vlogging about the build or whatever and making money off it, I wouldn't care. You know why? Because nothing is stopping me from picking up a camera and doing the same. The difference is, I don't want to/ couldn't be bothered to. I don't expect to get paid for doing something voluntarily because I enjoy it. But I would expect to paid if I was going through the effort to bring content to the masses and give exposure to sponsors. If the Fest guys just want to ride jumps with no obligations, they should be buying their own bikes and gear, and paying for every tiny thing involved in making these events/ massive jumps happen.
Lacondeguy made some money, but if he made 6 figures in his best years I'll be surprised. Currently a few slopestyle pro's make that money, so sure he had a few good years. If he makes more than five figures now I'll be shocked and amazed.
Graham and Kurt maybe had a decent sandwich for a few years. Right now? It's going to be small change.
Again, the recent revew on pro salary should be an eyeopener. Even the best paid, those on Slopestyle Crankworks had a few guys on there who were doing it for a glorified hobby (aka 4 figures).
You are really overestimating the amount of money they made and how much they have to save for a rainy day (Not everyone has Kirt's longevity).
The PB stats thing was mostly based around racers, and I think it mentioned that the slopestylers/ freeriders, in general, did better than most racers financially. There are A LOT of insanely talented racers, and I would argue that racers have a more "fragile" career when it is purely based on results. Given how stacked the fields are at races means that any number of the top 30 could probably make waves if luck goes there way. Freeride is a more niche part of the sport for sure, but with that niche comes niche athletes. Those athletes tend to stick around for longer, as they can't necessarily be replaced as easily by the next fastest guy.
In a sport like this it's nearly impossible to keep control of any kind of event in terms of invite lists as in the end everyone is a friend of a friend of a friend, you're always going to end up with splits when it all gets a bit big and someone wants to do something different. Got chatting with a couple of the fest guys a few years ago at a park and did some laps with them, just seem like a pretty tight group of guys who whilst very friendly, have their own thing going on.
Why do so many people in this day and age think everything should be open to them just because they say so? These guys built their own series up from the ground, it's for them to ride, what harm is that doing anyone else?
Low pro camp outs/sessions without all the media requirements. Then you gta hire security/insurance/permits..etc
I would say Reynolds would have wanted to invite his buddy and absolute lamest guy in the scene Matt Jones. So I say good on Vink and co. for putting a stop to that and not letting that arrogant family money rich kid try and take the tiny YouTube profits he makes off there hard work.
I think some of the commentators on Pinkbike here have to understand that some people (ie FEST guys) don’t want to sell out freeride and their sport for maybe $2000 YouTube money. (And please don’t say it’s more then that because if you do you obviously have no idea how it works).
There’s already more riders there who are on the “not welcome” list.
Just cause you are down with vlogs and unbridled media coverage/promotion doesn't mean that everyone else is.
Definitely agree their press release could have been better worded, but English is not their first language and guaranteed they didn't intend to sound as butthurt as they came across.
You are clearly a cheesy punter and like cheesy shit. For those of us who aren't cheesy punters, Sam Reynold's content is a bit cringy. Obviously there's a place for him to keep doing that in this industry, but fest series is not that place.
Never thought Sterling Archer would be the one to cower down on his knees and suckle big MTB's teat. GFTO with your fancy sunglass wearing, remy metailler watching, enduro bike riding, consumer-whore tendencies
I actually am the most core mtb'er to ever exist. I own one mountain bike, it's a DH bike, and it is pretty damn nice because I'm a badass rider and need good shit. Hands down I build the the most badass trails, and there is no way you could hold a candle to me as a rider or as a trail builder. Our local scene is the reason Alberta riders like yourself swarm to other riding locales and f*ck our scene's up.
Sam Reynolds is a sick rider and super nice guy (I've met him). But I find the whole Youtube vlog promotion thing cringy. He's good at presenting and youtube'ing and it clearly and his content obviously resonates with a lot of mountain bikers. I'm sure is sponsors are super happy with him. But the Fest series is not about selling bikes or energy drinks... Each and every one of the Fest guys do marketing and promotion individually for their own sponsors. But through Fest, they come together and create a riding experience exactly the way they want it for themselves, not for their sponsors, and not for the Pinkbike comments section. They market Fest events just enough to cover the bills of digging & hosting. You can't fault them for wanting to create their own events and not have a god damn media circus on every f*cking landing.
Yes, their press release sucked and came across as petty, but they don't have a media coordinator and english is not their first language. I can guarantee that they didn't mean to come across the way that they did.
I couldn't tell by all the energy drink logos on all their helmets in every fest video.
" but they don't have a media coordinator and english is not their first language. I can guarantee that they didn't mean to come across the way that they did."
Every sentence in every paragraph was a douchey diss to Sam and Darkfest. That's a lot of mistakes to blame on a language barrier.
Several of them are certainly sponsored by energy drinks, but again, the Fest series events aren't meant to be brand showcases of the host rider's sponsors. They are meant to be the "anti event" low key, rider-focused, good friends, good times, no pressure, no industry or media plebs. But when Monster energy drink head honcho's show up to a Fest event to bro out and blow off some steam, and then go and host a $10,000 dinner but don't invite the riders, that is going to piss some people off.
I imagine there is more going on behind the scenes... Maybe the Fest guys are pissed off and did mean it as a diss to Sam? I doubt it, but there are two sides to everything...
Someone already used that line in this comments section brah.
Back to the industry teat!
Go! Git on wit' ya!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFItU16nUJ0
or this one
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo0TN9UjVlU
Not really making a lot of sense here.
Your banter is not in the same league as the real Sterling Archer.
Back to feeding indiscriminately from the industry teat for you!
Ya there is some support there but that doesn't mean they need to bend over backwards to accommodate the corporate interests of an occasional event sponsor.
Simply, your arguments are both ignorant and tone deaf. Much like your claims of being the more core mtb'er ever...
ahhh yes, the classic Albertan strawman: "We fuel Canada's economy, therefore you need to tolerate how shitty we collectively are as a province"
I am not a child, but yes I'm being childish in arguing with strangers on the internet about the fall out surrounding a mountain biking jumping festival. Might as well double down on my childishness. Here is a poem that I wrote for you:
One thing is clear, you suck and I do not,
Albertans suck.
Alberta's got potential,
But you and your bro's don't feel compelled to pickup a shovel,
It's easier to swarm to BC,
And f*ck up our scene,
For your instagram.
Your flannel shjrt sucks,
Your white Oakley's suck,
Your attitude sucks,
Canada owes you nothing.
I stand by what I said. Fair play to Fest for distancing themselves from the cheesy vlog media hype machine known as Darkfest. I think you must be taking bong rips out of Sam Reynold's Youtube channel as you clearly have soooo much bro hype sooo far down your throat... Too bad things shook out the way they did between Fest and Reynolds though.
As a 41 year mtb veteran of BC..... skimtb1 does not represent the popular opinion of us "real core'mtber's".... Just sayin'
I'm older school than you Jake and ten times as core! Your opinion is moot anyways as you're far enough west to be sufficiently separated from the full summertime effect of the "Red Tide".
Also I live on the island.... Everyone here is from Alberta.... They are the only ones who can afford to live here.... So.....
This is a digression... We are both OG as f*ck. The fact of the matter is that Albertan mountain bike vlogging enthusiasts are the worst
Then what is the point of having an organization at all? Sounds like you guys would like to get back to being unsponsored, unorganized, and unknown dudes riding their bikes on their own terms. Sounds like all you want is an exclusive riding club, which at this point we would all like to not hear anything about.
They are sponsored, they organize the coolest jams, but often not known by everyone, only by likeminded people.
I think this is the direction they are going.
Might be others but those are the ones I can name.
1) Hoffest hosted by Kurt Sorge in Retallack / Nelson.
2) Aggy’s Reunion in Kamloops
3) Cruz Fest in Santacruz
4) Black Sage in Oregon
4) Loosefest in Belgium
5) Darkfest in South Africa
6) Huckfest hosted by Makken
7) Royal fest hosted by Vink.
There was never a year where all of the stops were hosted. Some like Aggy’s Reunion have come and since gone
What does this even mean? Sam Reynolds is pouring a lot of time and effort into building the jumps and organizing an amazing event. Seems pretty real to me. I, for one, love the behind the scene stuff he shares on Youtube. It is just as entertaining and fun to see all the work it takes to pull as the actual riding, and when they finally show up to send I'm actually a bit invested.
If you want to have your ultra secret elite real/pure/whatever free ride event, that's cool. But this press release seems like some jealous ex shit. Spare us the drama.
But I guess to them it's all about limiting who can ride and pretending the rest of the world doesn't deserve to even know about it. Which is really not the "essence" of riding bikes as far as the rest of the world is concerned.So I guess at least they're consistent in keeping the event and their beliefs completely separate from the rest of the riding community.
Freeride isn't FREE!
#makefreeridegreatagain
It’s like being a really shitty chef and telling people to f*ck off when they complain about your food.
ANDREU LACONDEGUY
GRAHAM AGGASIZ
KURT SORGE
KYLE JAMESON
MAKKEN: So cool he needs a single name - MADS HAUGEN
NICO VINK
NICK PESCETTO
TROND HANSEN
I loved the idea of FEST series, but this is the polar opposite of what got me stoked on the concept when it was first shown to the public.
Darkfest is successful and won’t let us control it so we will put out a PR statement written / approved by someone who obviously feels wronged. Opposed to Sams statement that reads professionalism through and through.
Sam and now “his event” will garner YT views, coverage and sponsorship deals. I wish the fest series the best and hope the organisers learn from this.
Wonder which one is doing it right ?
Considering Sam's prolific messaging it's not hard to see this made some tensions, especially since it remains to be seen if Sam split that pie (which probably isn't that big).
I kinda understand the other riders/diggers/organizers are annoyed when someone starts to profit disproportionally. But if this is the solution? The messaging is not really helping them here (as is shown by the reactions here).
If Lacondeguy does a Tsunami Backflip and crashes it's hits on Sam's channel and a lost season for Lacondeguy.
If Nico organizes Loose and Sam then makes edits about it, I am sure it's Sam who is getting the lon's share of that clip (if not all). Your (correct) point is that if Sam wouldn't film it no bank would be made at all, but looking from the riders point I actually see the problem.
Think about it:
If I organize a series of Community football matches and one of the other organizers starts to vlog and market it, I sure as hell would have a problem, even if he works the hardest. I assume most people would be scratching their heads about this and either would walk away or want to be paid.
And your notion that these are pro's making a living riding these events is wrong. Most of them get peanuts if that. Sam is actually the odd one out in being able to make a decent living from this niche.
I am emphatically NOT Anti-Sam. But if I look from the eyes of the others I understand exactly why some are annoyed (if not downright angry). It's very onesided here on Pinkbike how the Fest guys are the bad guys, but that's way too easy.
The original point of the Fest series was to get away from structured contests as they didn't suit these guy's riding styles and strengths, and to host jam style sessions by the riders for the riders. In other words, it's about having fun on bikes doing what they choose to do. Sam isn't making people do things they don't want to just for the camera. He is just giving the world a glimpse into the work, dedication, and fun that is had at these events. "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" It sounds like the Fest guys are the ones who have forgotten the "core values" of the Fest series.
The way I see it, he just wants us normal people to be able to feel like they are a part of the experience, and to bring more eyes to what goes down and is possible on bikes at these events. Without viewership, they wouldn't be able to be doing ANY fest series full stop. Clearly, these guys don't have to film and create content if they don't want to, but to shit on another guy for doing a) something he enjoys b) getting paid more for putting in the work to create content, and c) completely throwing him under the bus from the safety of anonymity (granted we all know who these guys are, but none of them are putting their names publicly behind this statement). I obviously am a fan of all the main Fest guys riding, they're all absolute animals, but this makes them come across as super entitled and "snobby" (not to mention how hypocritical their statement is when you look at the Fest website). Oh you want to be able to just build massive jumps, just have fun all day with your buddies of your choice only without having to have any proper coverage of the event while getting paid? Yeah wouldn't that be nice. All of us on Pinkbike would be professional riders if that was the case.
The whole thing has been handled in an unprofessional, childish and unnecessary way. Sam's response comes across as genuine, without the same level of snark. Good on him for defending himself in a classy way.
AMEN!
That sums up about everything that needs to be said about the whole situation.
"We, the Fest Series crew decided to announce and make clear that Darkfest is no longer part of Fest Series. Sam Reynolds lost track of the essence of Fest Series and 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 then performance based, Its about personalities, a lifestyle, a certain dedication to the art of riding bikes and building trails, things that are far more important than how much 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 the future generations and whoever else is into bikes.
Ride on
The Fest Series"
I think Nico doesn't want to become a venue for Sam to make a living.
And no, I'm not slamming Sam, I fully know how hard it is to make a living as a pro.
How do you know that Dark Fest is not trading on the Fest Series name? How do you know who makes money or not? You are merely speculating.
Staying 'relevant' is subjective. As has been previously mentioned The Fest was set up to be anti-corporate / big contest. Dark Fest has evolved into something that is not representative of the original Fest Series ethos.
It certainly doesn't seem to be benefiting from it now which is why the founders of The Fest have moved to dissociate themselves from it.
Also note, pure darkness was not an event, it was a video series that echoed the values of the Fest series.
The Fest series is not about corporate brand building. It's a series for riders, by riders that does not receive it's funding from energy drink manufacturers.
This disparity in approach would seem to be the cause of this split. The fact that the general pinkbike audience doesn't understand this is no surprise.
Only two of the Fest founders are still (to my knowledge) sponsored by energy drink manufacturers.
Lol, yikes
"things that are far more important than how many views or likes a video gets on social media"
Seems a little hypocritical??
I also think you overestimated the money these youtube views get. What he's getting is exposure, but cash? Not so much.
I hope this makes way for riders that doesn't belong to the inner circle. I enjoyed freeride fiesta with a bunch of new faces like Stevie fu$%@ Schneider.
Club Already have a new manager lined up to reveal in the morning to play the same type of football but oh wait his wages cost less.
Bottom line is Sam is making more money than the Events team.
Is this about something else?
As others have said, he's approachable, good on camera, a great front man, so I have no doubt Darkfest will not only be just fine, it'll thrive without whatever the restrictions were.
Fest has its own YT and IG channels
www.fest-series.com/founders - links to insta under all their names
www.fest-series.com/collaborators - links photographers and videographers (with links to their IG accounts)
www.fest-series.com/riders-1 - links to IG accounts
Typical MTB bros with their secret invite only trails. Hate that attitude.
Probably something to do with disagreements over the size of super huge gaps and more than super huge gaps, or something similar.
#GapDrama
See how much different that reads? Nobody’s has a problem with them parting ways. But the kindergarten beef is pathetic.
Sounds like they wanted a bigger slice of the media pie, which is fair, so they started their own series in order to have more control. Something went sideways with Darkfest, likely a squabble over who owned the content and who got paid, and here we are.
They had to make it personal and dismissive because that's exactly what it was. An attempt to elevate themselves above someone else by dissing them.
#f*ckFestSeries
Keep on doing your thing Sam. Top notch content.
From the fest series website. Ironic lol
Every single one of these guys has a social media page link directly under their name. So what’s this drama REALLY all about?!
They like a bit of coverage, but not too much, only enough to show they are the free-ride legends keeping it real? Why even advertise or have any kind of coverage at all then?
I could offer them some legal help in drafting their terms and conditions so nobody else on the crew gets gets hung drawn and quartered on social media like Sam did. First question - How many videos may be made by the builders? How do they measure the "pressure" on the riders caused by too much social media? Is Monster energy allowed to sponsor Fest events?, Are you saying the Darkfest jumps are too big and scary for you - did Sam go too huge? Is it wrong to invite new bloods like Ike and Theo to participate - are they not grunge enough?
To me it looks like this may be about young guns getting invited to Fest because they have a couple of vids with lot´s of views or followers vs. oldschool Fest-Founders that don´t give a f*ck and just load up content for their buddies, but have worked of their butts to build and progress the sport.
It`s like me struggling to find funds to built and maintain publicly open trails with our club vs. young instagrammers who, for jumping scary looking and badly built jumps on illegal trails get all the internetglory(and possibly a good frame deal).
Nico and Sam if you read this. Sit down, have a beer together, and figure out a way to promote your product, so everybody can have a piece of it while still keeping it real.
Because the product is great!
And ignore the Nay-sayers and Corporte-haters.
Then... Most guys on here don’t even know half how real Nico is. Till this day he is still in the world’s top 5 of dudes to ever swing a leg over a bicycle. Name me ONE GUY who will build a complete Loosefest line and then rides out the whole thing first try(!!) before the event hasn’t even started...... He’d rather throw his cell phone and all that social media bullshit away right now than tomorrow. It’s all sponsors contract’s crap.
He was riding the world’s craziest BMX trails at the time (10+ years ago / his own local spot) without hardly anyone knowing about it.
And there’s way more to this whole thing than the $$$$’s I’m sure....
Oh and Sam. Just keep doing your thing because you’re really good at it. \m/
Sure Vink and all these guys are super rad, but they get paid to sell their image so on that one they f*cked up
Having listened to Sam for over 3 hrs on two separate podcasts (Macduff and Needles), I had to say he’s completely dedicated to progressing the sport, building bigger (and safer) jumps and giving new riders opportunities. I’m not sure what there is to criticise there.
And if it is about money then they are pretty big hypocrites
This seems more like a bunch of rad dudes with their heads up their radasses and feeling hurt that another rad dude had managed to be popular as well. So they decided to redefine radness to exclude popularity. Problem solved.
lacondeguy
aggasiz
sorge
jameson
makken
vink
pescetto
hansen
dramatic.
You can taste the jealousy, pathetic.
Keep up the great work, Sam. While social media can be cringe as f*ck, I really appreciate the coverage. Even though I don’t have an IG or FB or whatever the f*ck people use, I still get linked the clips etc and I love watching these events.
Guys, you are either full of crap or arrogant snobs - or both. By trying to usurp mountain biking and making yourself the wanna-be kings of it you are, in reality, making asses of yourselves. And that statement might be cruel to the donkeys…
Fest: Why you been acting so messed up towards us?
long pause...
Reynolds: Well, you go first.
Fest: I don't know, maybe we felt a little threatened because your career is just blossoming and ours are kind of winding down...or whatever...
Reynolds: and I felt like, these guys are really hurting me, and it hurt!
Fest: and we felt that when you told us to Dere-lick our balls, that really hurt
Reynolds: Maybe I was scared man, you're the Fest Series!
Fest: Well we can Dere-lick our own balls, thank you very much.
Not inspiring when its super duper exlcusive.
What have you done since 2015 that's so innovative? Creative? When was the last time the the jumps had a change? Has there even been an event other than darkFest since 2017?
Cheers to anyone that puts out content that makes me want to get up off my @$$!
It is incredibly childish and up to par with how problems seem to have been handled over the past few years. Quick fixes to non-existing problems, grey apron services, Übers, Dude Scaping, etc. One faces a problem and simply bounces off or decides to take the path of least resistance. Instead of upping their game and rising up to the challenge of actually trying to push this not so popular sport, they say it is not a core value to get media recognition on social platforms.
I do not think Sam will have a problem with Dark Fest, as it is the only one the 53 kids at the skatepark talk about half a year long. Dark Fest and Loose Fest are at the core of Freeride and we all know it. Not wanting to be on YT or IG may be a valid point for some but having media presence of both platforms does not mean that the sport or people are selling out.
"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." If this statement is against core values, then what are said values?
So Sam's using his platform to make money so he can invest it all in a cloning machine.
It´s as if pinkbike had allready anticipated what would go down and now he´s just there on top of the article, smirking.
Well played PB, well played.
Sounds like the debate was over Who is invited to ride the event, and disagreement about what that criteria is. Maybe some wanted Social Media following prioritized, some riders wanted it to be more Core (not just another Audi Nines).
Fest series could have left Sam's name out of the statement, it sounds like there's some hard feelings there.
I think Sam is great.
I remember riding the vertramp with some friends in the local skate-park over here in Belgium, a young kid was always looking full admiration @ us.....his name was Nico Vink !
Yep, the one and only!!
Now we are following the kid who is living his dream like no one else.
Many years later we are still riding together occasionally and we are still good friends, If you ever had the chance to chat or ride with Nico you immediately understand he is an extraordinary person, he grew up in a small town and his parents are the nicest people you will ever meet.
Nico is a hard core BMX bro, a Worldcup Racer, Freerider, Slayer Fan, and he killed all the local trails over here in Belgium, and his ego was never to big to help shaping the trails to a higher level, even in France, Spain and Germany and many placers around the globe.
Regarding the Fest series I don't want to comment on the current situation, and neither one of us should, is it so hard to respect the choise of a group of riders?
I was @ every Loosfest over here in Belgium, weeks before the event when no other rider was there Nico was already there from 7am until he could not see an inch anymore, in the sun or in the rain...always whit the typical Nico smile and determination.
Even @ darkfest most of the time we could see Nico was on his canterpillar machine making the sickest trails and jumps.
We can undoubtedly say Nico was the main force building the Darkfest trail
I am gutted to read most of the comments and for the first time, I'am not proud to be a freerider.
We should like I said not interfere whit the business but ride and be open minded.
Most of you never witnessed a fest series so you can't understand it, so please move yore ass and go to see on before posting such a bunch of stupid comments, fest series is way more than what you think.
Over here Nico is a national hero, and we respect what he is doing, every time you see him he takes time for everyone, just like all the fest series riders @ the event.
Feel sorry for Niko to read so many negative comments.... sometimes it's hard to be real.
Greets from Belgium the home of one of the coolest dude on the planet.
Cheers.
I fully understand that the vibe of an event is completely different when there's a couple of people constantly vlogging compared to filming one official edit like the other fest events. I love the Loosefest XL edit for example.
From reading the statement (posted in theis thread) on why they started the series I understand that Darkfest is run in a different way than what was the plan with Fest-series.
With that said I like Darkest and follow all that content to.
That pressrelease from Fest-series wasn't very well thought out, timed or written though...
From an objective eye, I see athletes who add value and I see athletes that don't. I frown at the big names that don't and I wonder where the value is.
Well done to Sam & Co, they understand what the market and the sponsors want.
youtu.be/oHe-baDCGRc
whos posting it first?
If the original Fest guys weren't invited that will have created tension. If they were invited but refused due to anything other than Covid then that will have created tension. A Fest event shouldn't be dictated by sponsors, so maybe there were issues there. I guess it's a select few that a know what led to this. The Fest press release is crappy whatever went down.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=WPHZXTxAHWc
Then Vink rebuilt the pure darkness line, and it was a part of the Fest series (darkfest). Then it was moved to the present location and built by Vink again. But Reynolds seems to be taking all the credit for some reason
Pure Darkness was pure crap before Fest came in and rebuilt everything
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCvZtbv606Q
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qtl78zsfyjs
When you've watched part 3 tell me again how the PD line was only rebuilt beyond the step up after it became a part of fest. Also, even that SiNgLe StEpUp in pt 2 was massive as fuk, everyone threw down hard on it and the whole jam and vid was as real and unpretentious as they come. That was the vibe we love to see and it's still there in DarkFest.
Those whiners are just mad because they wanted the fest channel to have exclusivity on coverage (read: they couldn't be arsed to do some work for their sponsors like Sam) and they wanted to gatekeep who could be invited. If they really wanted to have a secret sesh with no media, they'd have just done it. No "series", no logo, just go to the fuking woods and ride. They'd also pick up 9-5 jobs to pay for their bikes, land to build on and all that jazz. But that's not what they actually wanted, is it?
And if you're going to accuse Reynolds of taking credit for Vink's work, you better produce some quotes on when and where exactly he said anything of this sort.
I mean if that's the hill you want to die on, be my guest. Just please realise no-one cares about your opinions on traibuilding because that's not the problem here and neither is the event splitting from the series. Literally the only issue and what made people take the piss out of the fest guys is the bitchy, juvenile "press release" that no-one even had the balls to sign with their name. End of story.
I'm not getting pulled into your silly arguments. I saw a troll plastering the same irrelevant link all over the comment section and decided to reply with two more representative ones for anyone interested. I'm done with you now.
m.youtube.com/watch?v=WPHZXTxAHWc
Reynolds is just cashing in on it, he certainly wasn’t capable of building it. He’s not bashful taking credit for it, either.
youtu.be/RyQQbw3NEmk
"looking forward to clean these up and assist Sam in creating his jumps and his ideas" -Nico Vink on DarkFest at 6:29. Keywords being "His jumps and his ideas" meaning Sams. Sam isn't taking anything away from Nico. He likely contracted Nico for help on this (and for good reason, he knows his way around an excavator). Sam is the leader of Dark Fest. Delegating work to those he trusts to do the best job they can doesn't make the idea theirs. My analogy was fine. It could have been any company. Workers will always be involved and necessary to help build a company, but it's the CEO who brings the idea from nothing to something and employs the necessary people to build it to where they want it to go."Anyone can organize an event". Guess what? Sam DID organize it,and not Nico, and it wouldn't be there without him. Nico definitely helped polish it up, but it existed in some form before Nico was there to help, and would still be around without Nico (albeit, likely in a different form).
I’m guessing the flow-killing step-up was probably what they spent all their time on while Vink figured out and roughed in the rest of the line. At least it finally has a landing this year. Again, just a guess.
Good luck Sam I'll be tuning into Darkfest when it happens.
Sam > pretentious gatekeepers
That being said, it's totally fair that these guys don't want to be part of a cheesy YouTube video shoot. There is big difference to showing up at a big splashy media event where every rider has their own camera entourage vs showing up to a FEST series where there are a few media and support crew and that's it. Silence vs loud cheese ball YouTube scene.
The simple fact is that most mountain bikers suck, and are drawn to YouTube like flies to shit.
These guys spend a lot of time hitting big jumps all year round, much of which I am sure we never see, so what is the FEST series then?? for me its something they have to do, they have to have something that's public facing to actually satisfy their sponsors, the very ones that allow them to spend a lot of their time hidden away, with their mates, riding all day long - sometimes they have to do their job, hence the FEST - if they don't want to be beholden to "the man" or sponsors, then get day jobs, like us normal folk, and live the freeride life with no pressures or constraints
End of the day, these guys are paid to do this for a job, if riding big jumps and freeride is their life then that's the skill and talent they have to present to the public, as part of their commitment to those "cOrporAte oVerlOrDs" that actually allow them to do what they do!!!
m.youtube.com/watch?v=WPHZXTxAHWc
to what it is now, thanks to Fest Series. I think Dark Fest was starting to turn back into the cute lifestyle crap that Pure Darkness was originally. I don’t blame them for ditching it.