Thrasher Magazine

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, hosted the first ever Unity Fest. The queer trans festival brought freaks and geeks from across the world for four days of memorable mischief. On the menu we had: Unity shop hangs, jams with the adidas and THERE teams, live shows by queer icons Cher Strauberry and Marie De Courcy, Shag’s pro surprise party, Maité’s fake part release, art sessions and finally a BBQ hangout at the GaySkate7 HQ that surely healed a few traumas. The festival—a brainchild of Jeffrey Cheung and Gabriel Ramirez—was a queer trans utopia exceeding all expectations. Scroll through to get a glimpse at the life-altering experience where community, love, and acceptance prevailed in the fruitiest, cuntiest ways. —Emanuele Barbier

Photos by Norma Ibarra and Diego Sarmento

The four-day fest kicked off at the Unity/Lower Grand Radio shop on Thursday night

Welcome to the best weekend of your life!

Everyone stared in awe at the tower of pizza while sampling the free beers

Feast your eyes on queer trans skate History

Gui Silva took full advantage of the art station and riso printer

Day two started at Waller. Think I overheard some locals say it’s the busiest it had ever been. Marie De Courcy comes in hot with a nosegrind 180 out

Gui Silva popped off with a kickflip over the center pad

Blunt stink bug by the combo queen, Marbie, during the cash-for-tricks jam on the QP

“Happy Unity Fest from our family to yours” —THE GOATYS

Every event needs a handful of eastern Canadians who invite you over and try to convince you the winter isn’t that bad

The adidas team was going off. Vitória Mendonça, halfcab crooked grind 180 out

The pro-to-be Shag closed us out with a steezy kickflip 5-0 on the ledge

Product toss?! Nah, it’s a free raffle and a group photo to wrap up this wonderfully chaotic session

A master of his craft, Jeff inked the team before the big show at Club Waziema

3, 2, 1…

Congrats, Shag! THERE Skateboards' newest pro!

Hearts were full; smiles were bright. Shag’s pro graphic was done by Rewina Beshue

Clearly whoever said two mountains can’t meet has never been in a room with Jim Thiebaud and Jessie Van Roechoudt

Proudly serving, the soldiers of love ate and left no crumbs

On day three, we all made the pilgrimage to the slappy Mecca, Rockridge. Beatrice Domond gets the first frontside grind

No secret to these curbs for ex-local Jessie Van, slappy crooks

Kien, flyin' Mach 10 over the trusty Element flatbar

Zoom-in on the faces to get an immersive fan experience of Chandler Burton’s ollie

We all held our breaths watching the weekend’s MVP, J’vonte Johnson dump truck into the bank

Wait, what's this?!

One of us, one of us!

Back to classic Unity shenanigans, people went to town and screenprinted some masterpieces

Is it really a skate fest if you don’t have someone tattooing in the back of a car? Thanks for the ink, Sam

Unity Fest 1, we were there. Now onto the show

Openers for the night, Evensplit, rocked so hard they blew up the amp!

All eyes on Big Freak and the captivating performance

Wifey and Cher Strauberry elevate an already perfect night

Dream team in the pit

Surprise guests Ryan and Ish closed the show. It was lit!

The GaySkate7 HQ was smoking hot on our final day—physically and metaphorically

Final touch for the makeover of the GS7’s mini. She looked fabulous

Belgian royalty, Maité Steenhoudt, shows off her new colorway on some hot lines

The whole afternoon felt like a dream

Special appearance by the homeowner, frontside pivot to fakie

Sam was deep in the zone on this last round of tattoos. If you didn’t get yours, there's always next year. Or just hit 'em up

The most boosted bean plant goes to Vi. That's all for the weekend. Thank you, Unity, THERE and everyone who showed up