Sidewalk Skateboarding

Go Skateboarding Day is an annual one-day celebration of skateboarding, usually held on 21st June, with the aim of promoting the sport and encouraging skaters to drop everything else and get outside. Originally conceived by the International Association of Skateboard Companies (IASC), the day was first held in 2004, with a few simple skate sessions and barbecues held in skateboarding’s unofficial capital, Southern California.

Events, fundraisers, contests, protests and demos are held around the world to celebrate the day – one of the biggest events is in New York City, run by the boss of 5boro Skateboards Steve Rodriguez, where thousands of participants take part. In 2013, the day kicked off at Flushing Meadows skatepark with a best trick event on the park handrail, before heading back to the city for the traditional push across the Williamsburg. into the city’s Lower Eastside and the LES Coleman Playground.

To celebrate the 10th Go Skateboarding Day, the IASC also partnered with the Smithsonian to put on ‘Innoskate’, a two-day event celebrating innovation in skateboarding with the Lemelson Center at the National Museum of American History in Washington DC.

Thousands of retailers, manufacturers, skateparks and distributors take part in Go Skateboarding Day each year, including Nike SB who held events in 2013 in Los Angeles, Mexico City, Barcelona, Berlin, Melbourne, Paris and Washington DC. In the UK, the Nike SB team and local skaters hit up spots across London, before finishing up at BaySixty6 skatepark in the west of the city with an evening stair set jam.