Masanobu Iwata – who runs more yo-yo events than most people ever attend – sends us the report from 44FESTA vol.09, held on September 14th, with the usual healthy mix of beginners and World Champions in attendance.
In addition to the usual freestyle contest and mini-contest, 44FESTA had some kendama action with Kairi Honma and SEN KENDAMA. I’m a fan of traditional unpainted kens, but these guys have some beautiful paint jobs!
Next up was the mini-contest. Further proving yo-yos are just an excuse to hang out with friends, this edition’s mini-contest got rid of the yo-yos altogether to concentrate on the core of the FESTA experience: rubber ducks.
Piling up ducks on your teammate is how you prove your worth at 44FESTA.
The freestyle contest at 44FESTA is also proving to be an excellent training ground for the new generation. This time, none of the veterans attending the event got into the top five.
Yamato Murata, from team sOMEThING got first place, just what we came to expect from a World Yo-yo Contest finalist and winner of the strong Hamacon contest last week.
The remaining freestyles can be found on the 44FESTA website.
Be sure to attend the next event, on October 14th! sOMEThING boss Hiroyuki Suzuki and the one and only Hiroyasu “Pon” Ishihara will be the special guests of vol.10!