London Freeze Festival 2009
03 September 2009
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Olympic Fever Hits London As World Cup Winter Sports And Music Event Returns To Battersea
The UK’s biggest ever winter sports and music festival, Freesports on 4 FREEZE sponsored by LG, is returning to London following the phenomenal success of last year’s event.
Less than four months before the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the FIS-sanctioned World Cup event will kick off the UK winter sports season with the ski, snowboard and music festival taking place from 30th October to 1st November. The event, produced by Big Freeze Limited, will be transmitted on Channel 4 at a date to be confirmed.
Once again, Battersea Power Station will be transformed into an international competition standard snowboarding and freeski venue to host world class skiers and snowboarders from around the world.
An outstanding musical line up has been confirmed over the three days of the festival with further acts to be announced nearer the time. Headlining on Friday 30th October is Orbital, the seminal act who have recently made a highly successful return to the music scene following their disbandment in 2004.
One of the biggest and most influential acts in the history of dance and electronica, their pioneering music has attracted a massive and loyal fanbase and their albums have sold in their millions around the world. Renowned for their live performances, their appearance at London Freeze is not to be missed.
Sunday 1st November will see one of the hottest acts of the year perform as electronic pop outfit Friendly Fires headline their first festival in the UK beneath the iconic towers of Battersea Power Station.
The Hertfordshire group, who have been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and whose latest track “Kiss of Life” is currently receiving massive radio play across the UK, have been promoting their highly acclaimed self-titled debut album for the past year and are fast becoming one of the UK’s best loved bands.
The inaugural event in 2008 drew huge crowds to the South London site and the event sold out all 10,000 tickets on the Saturday for the World Cup event. This year, the daily capacity will be raised to 15,000.
The 32m high ski-jump will accompany the iconic towers of Battersea Power Station on the London skyline once again with 500 tonnes of real snow being produced and packed onto the slope to transform the site into a winter sports village.
The big air jump will form the central hub of the competition and will return as the biggest ever created in the UK. The overall length from the top of the jump to the landing strip will be 110m, with a 17m table top drop from which competitors from around the globe will be showcasing their talents.
The LG London Big Air event, part of the FIS LG Snowboard World Cup, will take place on the Saturday, forming the main competition for snowboarders including British Olympic snowboard hopefuls Ben Kilner and Dom Harrington.
All riders taking part can score crucial ratings points in their quest to become World Champions, whilst also improving their chances to qualify for the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010. Last year’s winner Peetu Piiroinen (FIN) will be returning to defend his title, along with Scotty Lago (US) who hopes to retain his Best Trick trophy.
Andrew Topham, Events Director at Big Freeze Limited, the event producers commented: “We are delighted to be returning to Battersea Power Station in 2009. 2008 was a special event for us and you can expect ’09 to eclipse that! The LG World Cup is a very important International Series and we are thrilled for London to be a part of that once more. Big Freeze will be working very closely with its partners to create the ultimate inner city snow and music festival.”
Marcel Looze, Snowboard Race Director at the sport’s official global body FIS commented: “Research showed that enjoyment of the LG Snowboard FIS World Cup Big Air was high with most wanting to come back or recommend a friend. The very special location at Battersea, the enthusiastic crowd and great performance of the riders made the first LG Snowboard FIS World Cup Big Air in London a success.
“FIS is proud to have London in the Calendar 2009/2010 again and give the audience another opportunity to watch World Class athletes without having to travel thousands of miles. We trust Sports Vision supported by the British Ski and Snowboard Association are able to create a great show again.”
Dom Harrington – British Olympic hopeful: “It’s such good news to hear that the London Freeze is returning the Battersea. Last year was such an amazing event from a Brit point of view. To be able to take on the rest of the World in our back yard really pushes us all as riders and they better watch out - we are here in force and we’ll be taking them down!
“The UK has a massive snow scene even without having our own mountain ranges and having Freeze in the UK highlights the popularity of the sport to the public. People need to know what snowboarding is all about and if we can inspire them to try it, just once, well that’s an awesome thing!”
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