La Jornada – After two years, the Sneakers Fever returns, the largest tennis expo in the country

For many, sneakers have become more than an item of clothing. Today, people from all over the world have generated communities that find a lifestyle in the urban. Skating, music, murals, clothes and toys constitute a base with which to form an identity. The Sneakers Fever, which began as a meeting where lovers of sports shoes could find, exchange and acquire some of the most coveted products nine years ago, has become a point where many meet every year to form community.

Omar Ruvalcaba, director of Sneakers Fever, explained that it is a “celebration of urban culture. We talk about tennis, fashion, accessories. We have designer toys, a contemporary art section, and sculptures by various Mexican artists, as well as talks, conferences, and guests.”

Similar tastes

So this 2022, after two years of pandemic, the expo Mexico’s largest tennis tournament has been held again. “It transcended from being a meeting of tennis lovers to a festival of urban culture,” said Ruvalcaba. More than doing business, Sneakers Fever arose as a way to find people with similar tastes: “Surely there are more fucking crazy people in Mexico, like us, who want to share this love for tennis,” recalled the director.

Other garments were added to that celebration, in addition to graffiti artists, digital artists, skaters, bikers and musicians. That is why the inauguration was a concert at the House of Vans, a forum where the tennis brand offers concerts as well as spaces for skating and giving workshops.

In the afternoon, dozens of young people began to arrive at the place. With beer in hand, the groups waited for dieez and rappers will start the celebration. The first to appear on stage in front of the dance floor skating it was Salvatge Lola, who would begin to warm up the mood with his mix of hiphop, trap, rock and other urban rhythms.

Soon Plata Shail would go up, along with five urban dancers, to sing her rhymes, accompanied by the beats that El Trill was playing. Despite the echo that made it difficult to understand the lyrics of the trapera very well, the public remained in front of the stage, recording videos, taking photographs and moving heads and arms to the rhythm that the singer was tracing.

The main act of Yoiker, a rapper originally from Mexico City, followed, who along with Joven Fresquito raised spirits late one night. With Latin Drill, his recent and successful song, the temperature rose, and then the freestyler he took off his shirt to continue singing. In the end, only El Trill would be left saying goodbye to the inauguration.

After the celebration, the two days were left at the Pepsi Center. In 500 square meters where, in addition to the exhibitors and their products, talks are offered on caring for sneakers, street art, trends in fashion and NFT, as well as some dedicated and taught by women, on entertainment or the world of urban music. “The mainstay, at the end of the day, is still tennis shoes, there is nothing more urban than tennis shoes”, stated Omar Ruvalcaba.