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In a surprise twist, the Mangawhai Bowl Jam will return next year despite earlier reports that it had been cancelled indefinitely.
Organiser Jesse Peters abruptly announced last year that the event was being wound up. He said it had grown too big for its “grassroots organisers”. The event was also facing new challenges with Kaipara District Council requiring a traffic management plan and resource consent.
After 11 years, the Bowl Jam had become one of the largest and most anticipated events in both Mangawhai and the competitive skating circuit, with around 60 entrants and 2000 spectators.
A new team of organisers, led by Auckland’s Andrew “Morri” Morrison and Mangawhai’s Nicole Seyle, is taking on the event for next year, renaming it the Mangawhai Bowl Bash.
The organisers had hoped to stage the event on Waitangi weekend this year but decided to postpone until 2023 due to restrictions imposed by the Covid “traffic light” system.
“We did not want to do a vax-pass only event. We think skateboarding and the event itself should be for everybody,” Nicole Seyle says.
Organisers are aiming to stage the event on Waitangi weekend in 2023.
Morri is a renowned veteran skater from the 1990s and was the face of popular American skate brand New Deal.
Nicole is a surfer from California and co-owns the No Limits Surf and Skate shop, opposite the Mangawhai Activity Zone.
