Wagga's Mardi Gras party rolls on with Rainbow Roller Disco

Wagga’s Twin City Skate is gearing up for its biggest party yet when the Rainbow Roller Disco kicks off on Friday night.

“What makes this special is that it is an official event of Mardi Gras, that’s the theme and we’ve got a playlist that is classic Mardi Gras,” explains skate hostess Bec Wawszkowicz.

While the former teacher is the undisputed queen of all things roller skating in the Riverina, she will have some fabulous competition on the night.

“We’ve got Tom Roy and Imina Something, drag king and drag queen coming to co-host the event, which is fantastic,” she says.

“So far we’ve had our biggest-ever response from people on social media.”

The popularity of Twin City Skate’s roller discos and artistic skating classes have steadily grown as the region has opened back up after COVID-19.

“I think the pandemic and the resurgence of recreational roller skating has certainly got something to do with it,” muses Bec.

“Especially with Tik Tok and social media you had ice skaters going outside and doing off-ice stuff on in-lines (roller blades) because they didn’t have access to rinks.”

With a background as an artistic skater, Bec is enjoying passing on her skills to a new generation.

“We’re providing that explicit training in artistic roller skating through Skate NSW with a view to getting kids and adults to compete at entry level,” she says.

“We hope to create a viable pathway for people who either want to start now as kids or if they’ve always had that dream that they wanted to be a figure skater and to do it as an adult.”

But whether you take it up as a sport or for fun, Bec says the roller discos are the best way to get a taste.

While they are well stocked with wheels, Bec recommends an early arrival if you need to borrow a pair of skates.

“The biggest one so far has been 230 people at the Halloween roller disco and we didn’t run out of hire skates, so that was great,” laughs Bec.

“It was really interesting to see the difference between a disco with 100 versus just 230 because people sort of adapt to the conditions and they start moving as a singular organism around the room.

“People are still having a great time even though there’s less space available.”

The family-friendly event will be held on the eve of the parade and skaters are encouraged to bring their most colourful outfits.

“We’re very excited to be able to provide this opportunity to the community and to continue to do so in the future,” says Bec.

If you’re up for a rainbow roll, head to Twin City Skate, Bolton Park on Friday from 6 pm to 8 pm.