10 years of Pier15

Skatepark
cultuur

Pier15 is celebrating its 10th anniversary! It started with a skate park and has now evolved into a place full of energy, creativity, and unforgettable experiences!

“We never really look back, it's always full speed ahead here," says Rinse (@rinsestaal), who has been there from the very beginning alongside co-founders Martijn and Jeroen. But now that the '10 years Pier15' photo book* is coming out in November, he can’t avoid a bit of reflection either. “Well, you think to yourself, wow, we have indeed written history in Breda.”

*available soon at Pier15 & the City Archive

Not too neat

Pier15 has grown into a 'free place' for culture, sport, and leisure. A place where all sorts of people meet. Enjoyably free-spirited and above all: not too orderly. “It’s a different part of Breda. A bit more rebellious and less predictable. A city needs that too.”

Home Haven

Although really everyone is welcome at Pier, young adults particularly feel at home here. Pier is truly a haven for them. What they find cool happens here. DJs, live bands, sports, exhibitions, performance art, film, festivals, talk shows: you can find it all here. And this has attracted more than 70,000 visitors per year.”

Sweating crowd

The highlight of the past months for Rinse was undoubtedly John Coffey, in May. “That was insane. It was super warm that day and we had a thousand visitors who were all going wild. It turned into one big sweating crowd that was swaying up and down. The energy was off the charts. Even the band themselves, who are quite experienced, had never experienced anything like this before.”

All Tony Hawks to Breda

Looking ahead, Pier also wants to become an important place for skateboard culture internationally. “In 2018, we brought the World Cup here. That was a dream come true - and it has left us wanting more. Bringing all the Tony Hawks of the world to Breda is the goal.”

Do-it-yourself mentality

Everything you see around you here was never 'the intention'. But it has turned out very well.

The success of Pier15, according to Rinse, largely stems from the do-it-yourself mentality. “We are all skateboarders by origin. We grew up on the streets, where different rules apply. You have to make it yourself. And that’s exactly what we did here. There wasn’t a cool spot for skaters in Breda yet. So we just created it ourselves. We built everything ourselves, from the skatepark to the bar.”

“It has been a mega adventure. And yes, we also made some silly mistakes. But there was also a certain charm to it. We didn’t know what was not possible, so we just went for it - you know? And actually, it still goes on like that here. If you don’t have something, you just build it. Or arrange it. Together, because we create Pier15 together with our visitors. Everything you see around you here was never ‘the intention’, but it has turned out really well.”

Each one, teach one

The ‘just go’ mentality of the Pier community proves to be an ideal breeding ground for talent development. Without having agreed upon it, it is truly ‘each one, teach one’ here. Learning from each other and helping each other progress. This applies to the skaters, who come in as newbies and are naturally welcomed and trained. But also, for example, to the bartender, who will soon have his first exhibition in the skate café.

Create off the cuff

"VJs, light artists, parties; a lot has already been organised and done here. If you have a good idea and are eager to contribute, we will think with you. And you can take the stage here for the first time. This is the case even if there isn’t a plan behind it, by the way. Creating spontaneously and seeing what happens: often the most beautiful things emerge from that."

Fighting

“With Pier15, we have given this city a place where you can experiment freely, discover and develop yourself. It took us a long time to achieve this. And we know that it is not a given. But we are going to fight hard to keep it.”

View upcoming events at Pier15 here.