Wheels & Waves 2017 Report: The Best Yet, Six Years Later

A banner hung outside the ArtRide exhibition stated: ‘You are not in France, you are not in Spain; welcome to Basque Country.’ At this sixth iteration of Wheels & Waves, the sign should have read ‘Southsiders Country,’ as 20,000 guests of this festival of surf/moto culture invaded the sleepy town of Biarritz, filling all the hotel rooms, Airbnbs, and camping spots, plus every bar with a sidewalk. The Basque region isn’t a hotbed of alt.custom culture, and is a long way from Paris, Berlin, or Milan—where you’ll find the majority of European custom shops. But a surprising number of folks...