Etnies Backyard Jam
Published 21st Oct 2005 by Alex Hammond

We seem to be stuck in something of an 80s timewarp right now - the streets are awash with Mullets, Iron Maiden tee-shirts and ripped jeans are once again de rigeur, and the clubs are full of minimal electro-bleepery.

One of the finest activities to come out of the eighties is also enjoying a full-on renaissance - BMX biking.

Nowadays, BMXing (is that a real gerund?) is a massive industry and a popular spectator sport... who remembers the Red Bull Vert Sessions on the beach last summer? Thousands of people went down to watch experts flipping, grinding and bunny-hopping merrily in the sunshine. If you enjoyed that, you're going to love the Etnies Backyard Jam at the Brighton Centre (21-23 October).

Brighton is hosting one of Europe's most prestigious BMX competitions as Etnies Backyard Jam (EBYJ) turn the Brighton Centre into a BMX Mecca, ready with a 375 m2 street course, retail area, Snickers public street course and more international stars than the Beckham's garden party!

In its 12th year the Etnies Backyard Jam is coming back bigger and better. As the leading core event in the UK the riders list grows year on year and in 2005 it reads like the BMX hall of fame. Riders from teams like Etnies, Federal and Hoffman bikes include Jamie Bestwick (UK, twice XGames Gold Medalist), Corey Martinez (US), Jon Taylor (UK), Morgan Wade (US, Street World Champion), Bas Keep (UK) and Sergio Layos (Spain, EBYJ winner 2003) to mention but a few. With such a line up and the relaxed atmosphere the EBYJ is famous for, the riders will push themselves, get technical and stretch boundaries to perform the sickest tricks in the race for the record $30,000 prize money.
Friday will see 100 amateurs battle it out in heated qualifiers for the honourable 10 finalist spots in Saturday's Expert final. Then as the 60 Pros take to the street course for their qualifiers it will start to get serious. The top 16 Pros will come back on the Sunday for the highly regarded Pro final and some fearless bad-ass action.

If that was not enough the Etnies Highest Air and the Snickers Best Trick contests on Saturday and Sunday respectively will definitely hype the crowd to frenzy and the excitement through the roof. Friday afternoon will also see a world record attempt as Snickers presents UK's first Highest Bunny Hop contest.


The Etnies Backyard Jam in association with Snickers and Primo is at the Brighton Centre
21 - 23 October 2005. Opening times: 10 am to 8 pm.

Ticket prices pre booked/on the door: Fri ?6/?8, Sat ?8/?10 and Sun ?10/?12. No access with bikes for the public... it's for your own good.

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