The Ultimate Flatface Fingerboard Rendezvous Guide!

Hey all, it’s Chris Daniels aka CDPlaya0 and today we are going to share the Ultimate Flatface #fingerboards Rendezvous Guide

For those of you who stumbled upon the video, you may be wondering “What is the Flatface #fingerboard Rendezvous?”


The #flatface #rendezvous is a renowned #fingerboarding event in the United States hosted in Northern Massachusetts. Hosted semi-annually, fingerboarders from all over the world head over to Dracut, Massachusetts for the chance to session with hundreds of other fingerboarders.
To understand the Vous it may help to understand it’s history.

Started by Flatface Fingerboards owner Mike Schneider back in April of 2007, it was modeled after the events that were done in Germany. You should understand that prior to the Rendezvous, fingerboard meetups were a very uncommon occurrence in North America, with maybe a handful of fingerboarders meeting up at most.

The 1st Flatface Rendezvous was hosted at Mike’s house and attended by a handful of fingerboarders, (incl a young Taylor Rosenbauer) the event quickly made waves, with each event growing exponentially eventually to have hundreds of attendees from all over the world.
The second Rendezvous saw legends such as Ethan Ebeling, Tim Hurley, Doug Bodkin, Jay Linehan, Taylor Lucas (from Canada!) and Brandon Jones (from Texas). We already started to see people traveling over a thousand miles to join!

The turnout continued to grow when in Nov 2008, Rendezvous 5 outgrew the Schneider house. Over 150 people attended this event, which was also the 1st one I attended (from Seattle!), this was the first event held in a venue and not a house!

Rendezvous 6 marked another monumental event. Blackriver, the pioneers of Professional fingerboarding, journeyed from Germany to the States to attend. It marked the blending of the North American and European scenes. It normalized the international travel for fingerboarding!

The event continued to outgrow venues, eventually settling on its current location in Dracut, MA.

At the point this video was released (as of October 2022) there have been 31 Rendezvous events, with the 32nd being hosted in November. As far as I’m aware no other major fingerboard event has been held more times than the ‘vous!

Like Fast Fingers, Rendezvous has become a pilgrimage for fingerboarders from all over the world to attend. You will see fingerboard icons and legends there.

Now that we’ve covered a little on the Rendezvous’ history let’s talk about
Where to Stay

There’s no place to stay really in Dracut. There are a couple of VRBOs and Airbnb spots. But I’d imagine those get booked. Your best bet is to stay at one of the towns nearby.

Lowell
Dracut’s proximity to Lowell makes it a good choice to stay for those that do not have a car.

Sonesta Select Boston Lowell Chelmsford -20 min drive / 1 Hour bus / 15 min walk to the bus stop

Best Western Plus Chelmsford Inn / 1hr 10 min bus / 10 min walk to the bus

Tewksbury
Lots of options due (Fairfield Inn, Residence Inn, Holiday Inn) to it’s location next to a professional hub.

1hr bus ride / Limited walking to bus.

Andover
Like Tewksbury there’s a campus of a handful of hotels along the Merrimack River. (Residence Inn, Springhill Suites, DoubleTree, La Quinta, Sonesta, Marriott Courtyard)

My personal choice is to stay in Andover. I find the town quaint and enjoyable. I would not recommend this option to someone relying on public transport. 25—30$ Lyft for a 25-25 min drive.

Transportation Options
With the advent of ride sharing platforms like Lyft and Uber, you don’t have to rely on public transportation

I’d recommend driving/carpooling if possible, but if you can’t then rideshare platforms work perfectly from the hotel to the event.
What to expect and bring

What to Do at the Vous?

The event starts at 12pm and end at 5:30pm. I’d recommend showing up a little early and grabbing lunch or a snack nearby. There’s plenty of time to fingerboard!
It will be packed, there are hundreds of fingerboarders in the space and a couple dozen parks.

Be patient! Sometimes you just need to stakeout a spot and then claim it for a bit. Sometimes a kid will barge in front of you and takeover. It’s fine!

My recommendation is to chat it up with people – hang out. Focus on building relationships with your fellow fingerboarders! I can’t remember any tricks that I landed at these events… even those that are on camera. I can tell you the names of all the amazing people I’ve met and where they are from though!

See someone land an insane trick that you can’t do yet? Go up and ask them how they did that trick! Someone’s setup catches your eye? Chat ‘em up and find out what it is.

If it gets too crowded, a quick walk outside can ease any claustrophobia.