The typical British weather was at its most unpredictable, but it failed to dampen any spirits as the showers held back. The skating competition managed to go ahead, and young people of all ages and abilities impressed the judges with their flips and tricks, after demonstrations from professional US skaters. A mixture of hip-hop and rock music boomed over Hengrove’s skate park area, labelled the ‘Extreme Zone’ for the festival, as BMX’s, rollerblades and skateboards flipped impressively through the air. Daniel, 16, was competing in memory of his grandfather who recently passed away. His skill with his rollerblades came from four years of practice. He became involved with the festival as it was set up earlier in the week. He said: “It’s really good, there’s lots of projects and things to do.” Many of the competitors were wearing the T-shirts given to the delegates, or volunteers of the festival, meaning they had been helping with community projects earlier in the week. Anonymous donation Marianna Yates, a member of the festival team, has been organising the event for months: “It’s great to see it in action – we’ve done so much in the last few weeks.” An anonymous donation of £35,000 was recently given to the team, and enabled the Christian non-profit organisation to make up their expenses for the festival. Marianna added: “It’s easy to talk about it, but we wanted to actually do something that was practical and could benefit people.” Everything from handing muffins to taxi drivers, to giving hats and gloves to the homeless, was done to help the community. “We didn’t just want to do something temporary- we wanted to have a long term effect.” The festival was given a two week radio broadcast licence. LoveBristol FM features a variety of local bands, as well as exploring issues affecting local people, such as health care and youth groups. The Sports Zone, featuring football, cricket and basketball workshops and tournaments attracted more young people of all ages from South Bristol. Two of the volunteers helping at this zone, Christian Palestinian Samer and American Steve Wiegard travelled to Bristol to help with voluntary work. 'Different cultures' Samer and Steve met in Palestine at Bethlehem Bible College after a sports tour, and became friends, inspired by their faith to travel and work in deprived areas. Steve explained: “The thing that gets me most excited is when people from different cultures meet. We learn as much from Bristol as we teach. God is not just in Chicago, or Bethlehem, he’s in Bristol too.” “When old guys like me work with young people, I’ve got a passion about that - it’s what helps to keep me young! If we allow kids to make a difference, let them step up to leadership, they will do what needs to be done.” The Bristol Youth Bus Project was also on site. Hartcliffe schoolchildren won a competition to revamp the double-decker bus that serves as a mobile youth centre, giving it a graffiti-art style makeover. Bus Project chairperson, Barbara Kelford explained: “It’s a good first point of contact, as teenagers aren’t going to come into church – but they’ll come along to the bus, and we can get alongside them.” “It’s local people trying to give back to the community” added David Moss, Vicar of Windmill Hill, Bedminster. “We have got people within the church who care passionately about young people.” The festival went into the evenings with live music filling the Big Top stage. A mixture of rap and rock groups meant there was something for everyone, and the break-dancing area in the centre of the arena amplified the party atmosphere. Saturday evening saw an intense performance from four piece hip-hop act 29th Chapter. Heavy bass and beats were topped with rap that questioned society and celebrated their faith. Kevin McGalde of 29th Chapter explained that the group met at the Soul Survivor Festival in 1999, and found that they shared musical tastes and faith. “We love the medium of rap music, but not the culture behind it.” “Sometimes you can say one, thing but you’re lifestyle says another -it’s about making a personal choice. We tour the Christian and non-Christian circuits, and try to undermine the stereotypes.” He added. The LoveBristol Festival attracted many people of different ages and races who shared one thing in common, and that was not necessarily their religion. It was a genuine desire to help a community that they were proud to be a part of, in whatever way they were able. | 
