On Sunday, 26 April 2026, the Margaret River Skate Park & Youth Precinct transformed into something far beyond a skate competition — it became a full-scale celebration of creativity, community, and raw energy.
Following the momentum built before the event, King of the Park delivered on its promise: not just a contest, but a completely reimagined skate experience inspired by the iconic Thrasher “King of the Road” format. The vision was clear from the start — shift the focus away from individual performance and bring it back to what truly fuels skate culture: team spirit, creativity, and connection.
A New Format, A New Energy
This wasn’t your standard skate comp.
Eight teams, each made up of five riders from across Western Australia, battled it out across 14+ challenges — combining technical skateboarding with unpredictable, off-the-board missions. From park lines to wild side quests like interviewing strangers, finding the craziest haircut, or filming a rap mid-session, every challenge pushed teams to think beyond tricks.
Each task required strategy: selecting the right rider at the right moment to maximise points. The result? A fast-paced, high-energy format that kept both riders and spectators fully engaged from start to finish.
From Main Break to the Skate Park
The day kicked off with the world-class WSL Finals at Main Break, setting the tone with elite-level surfing before the crowd naturally flowed into the skate park arena.
By mid-afternoon, the precinct was buzzing. Around 400 people showed up, filling the park with energy as the competition fired up from 2:00 pm to 7:30 pm — non-stop action, music, and community vibes.
Atmosphere on Another Level
Everything came together to create something special:
- Red Bull brought the energy with their iconic DJ truck
- Unleash Cafe kept everyone fuelled with poke bowls and cookies
- Unleash Media House captured every moment behind the lens
- Live performances and crowd interaction elevated the experience beyond sport
It wasn’t just an event — it was a show.
The People Behind It
At the heart of it all was Jolan Bonelli, founder of The Redman Academy, whose vision and execution turned King of the Park into a reality.
Together with Federico Infantino and the Gath Sports Team (main sponsor), Red Bull, and a network of local partners and volunteers, the event delivered what many are already calling:
“The best event ever at the Margaret River Skate Park.”
Words from Gath Sports
Federico Infantino, Marketing and Team Manager at Gath Sports:
“It was incredible. The team, especially Jolan, put together an amazing effort. The riders were extremely talented, and the vibes were through the roof.
Gath Sports is proud to have been the main sponsor and we want to thank everyone involved.”
Results & Highlights
- 🥇 1st Place: Team Red (Skidmarks)
- 🥈 2nd Place: Gath Sports Team
- 🥉 Followed by: Orange, Green, Blue, Yellow, Purple
With over $6,000 in prizes, the competition was fierce — but the real win was the level of participation, creativity, and support from the community.
Gath Sports: Tested by Riders
The event also became the perfect proving ground for the new Gath RGM dual-certified helmet, designed for both concrete and water sports.
Beyond its 5-star lab rating, it passed what matters most:
real-world testing by riders — from kids to pros — in a high-energy, demanding environment.
The Gath team, led by team rider Indigo “Gogo” Dale, secured an impressive second place, reinforcing both performance and presence on the day.
More Than a Competition
King of the Park 2026 wasn’t just a one-day event — it marked a shift in Margaret River’s skate culture.
By blending sport, creativity, and community, it proved that skateboarding events can be more inclusive, more entertaining, and more impactful.
Or as the crowd put it best:
KING OF THE PARK WAS FIRE
An absolute screamer of a day — and if this was the first edition, the future is looking seriously exciting.
From the organizer Jolan Bonelli:
King of the Park was a huge success – most of the skaters were straight up about it: “It’s the best event i have ever been to”.
And just as planned, It was controlled chaos.
A part of what made this special was the flurry of colours and outfits. Each team was colour coded to be recognizable – the businessmen even rocked up on suits! Each team had a coloured tape and a coloured tennis ball, the structures were spray painted, I, the Redman aka Prof.Red was dressed up with my lab coat and all the volunteers were in minion working outfits with work overalls. Everyone made an effort to look dazzling.
The turn out was also beyond all expectations: at all times, multiple hundreds would surround the various challenges, screaming and clapping to encourage the skaters. The public came from all over the state; a big thanks to Mia Mcarthy for shouting out the event at the WSL that morning! What made me rejoice the most was the sheer number of people who knew absolutely nothing of skating, yet who enjoyed themselves so much they stayed till the very end. I felt like was able to share how amazing skateboarding can be.
As fun as it was, the judges were elite. Harry Clarke (Nike) and Phil Marshall (Addiddas) held up high standards throughout the day while keeping the skating spirit. Despite an original format, they adapted and assured the smooth progress of the challenges.
The teams themselves saw a wide variety of skating styles and abilities. There were street skaters, vert skaters, old school skaters, young generations, international skaters and the list goes on. Skating is multifaceted, and King of the Park allowed us all to witness it.
With their 10 min time limit, each challenge was heart stopping. The cheers would increase as the clock would wind down, and we all hoped they were going to land it on their last try. Team yellow showed us how it was done with a kickflip front board on the down rail in the dying seconds of the challenge. The crowd exploded.
The level of skating was extraordinary. In all these years skating the park, I had never seen people send it so hard. The day saw some crazy tricks: late shoves over the Red Bull Esky. Hippie jumps over 1m50 (I think?). Airs 2.4m above coping. Front blunt and Noseblunts on rails while catching a tennis ball. The longest grinds I’ve ever seen done on the extension. Kickflip front board on the down rail. frontside hurricane, crail and handplants on the gnarly ramp. Yet, what blew everyone’s mind was the challenge on the rock. Honestly, no on ever skates that rock it’s that gnarly. But not that day.
Frontside Tail Tap, rock n roll, switch rock and even a Drop in from the top by Jetschke!
Down right epic!
In the end, it wasTeam Red (Skid Marks) that took the event out ahead of the Pink team (GATHHH!!) and Orange (businessmen). Standout members for me were definitely the Evans Brothers and Bdawg, Indigo and Nico and a guy from team yellow who’s name I never got as he rocked up in the morning (they didn’t even end up paying aha).
All teams kept the best attitude throughout the day, core to the skating spirit. Everyone knew it wasn’t about winning – it was about sending it. Go big or go home. Be nice or go home. I wanted to reward good people, not just good skaters. Positive vibes and stokes all day round. They all cheered and encouraged each other, and that made me happy. That’s the kind of scene I want to skate in.
The good vibes may have resulted from the Red Bull truck pumping out some raw tunes to get everyone pumped. Levi Hills from West Coast Computer even took over the mixing at some point! I was extremely lucky to have Justin from Red Bull on the Mic. His calming and soothing voice was listened to by all yet provided unlimited encouragement. A massive shout out to both Scotty Clark from We are feel Good who came down to set up the sunscreen station, the bean bags and umbrellas as well as Gaz and Hayden from Safetyle who helped me throughout the day. And of course, Federico, who juggled photos, filming, Unleash Cafe and Gath to show everyone why Gath was the main sponsor of this amazing edition.
While the day was packed with action, one of the remarkable ones came from the dance school who came along during the break and pulled out some impressive choreographies. The after party at the River with Dan Edlin was also epic.
Overall, a great day with great people.
To be done again
More stuff:
Each member of team Red was a stand out – Zen, Cruz, and Vai Evans (the three brothers) were absolutely sending it. Vai took the garliest wipe out while trying to air over the Red Bull Esky, and both Zen and Cruz managed to air higher than 2.4m high – turning all heads and earning them both a folklore deck. Jake Smith, the birthday boy, also displayed some very solid skating and Bdawg (Brendon Cross) their team captain, held up his long lasting reputation of a legendary WA skater by taking home the Best Trick on the Rock challenge, the garliest challenge of them all.
Team Pink (Gath Team) was not far behind. Indigo, the only girl in the event, displayed all what one would look for in a team mate: absolute stoked and motivation. Her team managed to clear the most amount of side challenges by making a human train with people from the crowd, rapping on the mic and inventing a rad handshake. Don showed us all how a manual should be done, Eliott had the cutest crop top while Nathan and Lucas pushed limits by winning multiple challenges and awards.
But the coolest people there were team orange, the businessman coming in third place. They all rocked up in suits and ties to demonstrate their intentions – which was rewarded with a pair of safestyle sunnies each. Nico attempted to reach his past performance and, while he took some heavy slams and was limping today, landed an incredible noseblunt while catching a tennis ball.
In fourth was Team Green was the Margs local boys team – Jake junior, Jimi grapes, Malik, Callum and Jeschke. Jeschke was, as usual, absolutely ripping. Dropping down the Rock was a memorable moment. All the crew sent it hard!
Team Navy Blue came next.
Grady McKinnon, Tom Slater, Tom elliott, Onyx Black, Will Sayer.
Captain Tom is a skate coach from FORM skateboarding (PERTH) as well as professional skateboard photographer. FORM was a sponsor of the event!
Team Yellow was next
These were the latecomers they all signed up in the morning so i don’t even have their names. Seb Messenger was in that team until he hurt his knee on te hippie jump challenge – which required an injury replacement. Asher, an American skater that works at the common was in that team.
Team Purple: Ben King 47, Luke Western 51, Chad James 39, Max James 10, Kai James 8Old boys and young boys. Absolute legends, old school type skating. The groms were pushing their limits despite being the youngest ones! The old guys kept their cool and their good attitude throughout all the challenges.
Aside from the skating, the Redbull Truck was pumping the tunes with Levi Hills from West Coast computer was mixing, free Red Bulls were provided, Unleash cafe was serving discounted poke bowls, and the margaret River Tutu company showed us what dancing was about during the break.
Important: However and as always, a minority of parents were not paying attention to their children which caused troubles for the competitors multiple times – while the park was reserved for the day, young kids kept riding around the park despite indications from the organizer to leave.By not supervising their children, the parents were putting them and the competitors at risk. To avoid accidents, parents need to be more careful and respect the rules and instructions of the organiser.
A big thank you to all the sponsors, the If people want this to keep happening, I’m going to need funding – if you want to support another edition, make sure to reach out! Don’t hesitate to let the shire know you loved it so that maybe they can also show some support!
++ not to be included, but I’d like express that Lasa (the cafe next to the skatepark) refused to give any discount to the volunteers(10 people) for lunch or drinks. I believe this was unprofessional as they made huge profits from the event + ton of visibility completely for free, while neither I or the volunteers made any money.
I also bring them clients 4 days a week with my skate lesson (up to 20 people a day) and all the volunteers are regular. I am a believer in word of mouth in this town, and I want to live in a place where mutual support is valued.
