Heaven is a halfpipe

Where do skateboarders go in winter? With the puddles getting ever deeper on the gloomy old South Bank, the high rollers of the London skate underground will soon be gathering indoors for a celebration of the city's thriving skateboard culture. It should all, as the saying goes, be sweet - the event is to be held in a disused factory that once produced Hartley's jam.

Side Effects of Urethane (urethane is the material skateboard wheels are made of) brings together some of the country's best skateboarding talent for a free two-day bonanza. The setting will be the district between London Bridge, Elephant & Castle and Waterloo, now being christened SoBo (South of Borough, of course). After next weekend's event, the 18,000sq ft factory will be demolished for redevelopment.

While the skating itself will take place on a specially constructed 'street course' on the second floor, the ground level is given over to the various art forms that have grafted themselves on to the Seventies fad from California that has refused to go away. There will be exhibitions of art and illustration, films and photography, and bands and DJs playing everything from Japanese punk to country and western.

The Jam Factory, which is providing the space free of charge, is a 250,000sq ft development being undertaken by brothers Charles and Spencer Style, who aim to regenerate the site in SoBo (by the way, that's Bermondsey to the rest of us) into a 'mini-tropolis' of residential and business properties, one of the biggest mixed-use sites in the capital.

Spencer Style has a long pedigree in promoting London youth-culture events. In 1979 he opened the hugely popular Starlight, London's first roller-disco, on the site of an old Irish dancehall in Hammersmith. In 1983 came the Ace in Brixton (now the Fridge), followed by Brixton Academy and, in 1987, the Astoria on Charing Cross Road. Each time, Style has exploited the potential for rejuvenating buildings that have fallen into dereliction.

'Side Effects of Urethane will be great,' says Style. 'There are some brilliant skaters performing and the space itself is extraordinary. I'm 40 now and I've moved on from doing clubs. The street energy is still there in skateboarding ? but it's nice to be able to do something you can take your kids to.'

Side Effects of Urethane runs from 11am to 11pm on Saturday 17 November and 11am to 7pm on Sunday 18. For free tickets go to slamcity.com/urethrane . For information about the Jam Factory call 020 7378 8158.