Grand Skate Tour (GST), a renowned skateboarding event series, is thrilled to unveil the highly anticipated 2023 event, set to take place at Moscow’s iconic Gorky Park from 26 August to 2 September 2023. The event is organised by the Russian Skateboarding Federation with grant support from the Interstate Fund for Humanitarian Cooperation of the CIS Member States (IFHC). TV BRICS International Media Network is the general media partner of the event.

The Forum will be attended by representatives of the Azerbaijan and Kyrgyz Republics, the Russian Federation, the Republics of Tajikistan, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Belarus and far abroad – Brazil, Israel, India, Yemen, Colombia, Cuba, Lebanon, Uganda, Madagascar, South Africa and others – a total of more than 150 people from 40 countries aged 14 to 35 years old. The central theme of the event is the development and strengthening of international youth cooperation in the field of new Olympic sports and youth subcultures.

The educational programme of the Forum includes lectures by leaders of international social projects, who will analyse the activities of sports NGOs in different countries: this year representatives of India, Oman, Serbia, South Africa and other countries will share their experience; meetings with skateboarders – participants of the Olympic Games in Tokyo and representatives of the skate industry are planned. A new direction in the Forum’s work this year is women’s skateboarding, in the framework of which representatives of different countries will present their social skate initiatives.

Heads of international and Russian public organisations will talk about fundraising in social projects, talk about communication with youth audience, skateboarding and its connection with the development of cities, the process of creating and promoting their own skate brand, the features of action photography and video shooting. All the days of the tour the exposition “Skate Museum of the USSR” (Minsk) will be open on the central arch of Gorky Park for everyone to visit. A separate area of the tour’s work will touch upon the issues of organising international mass events and building sports infrastructure for new Olympic sports.

One of the blocks of the programme is traditionally devoted to work with children and teenagers who are fond of skateboarding. In addition to the theoretical part, throughout the week in the stationary skate zone of Gorky Park there will be practical lessons for kids and master classes for teaching staff from the All-Russian project “Social Skate School”.

The programme of the event also includes various competitive activities in skateboarding, scooter and roller skates.

“The Grand Skate Tour has once again proven its worth and demand among skateboarders all over the world. This year’s event takes place in the iconic Gorky Park in Moscow – it’s hard to think of a more iconic location for young people. More than 150 participants from 40 countries will have an opportunity not only to compete in a unique world-class skate park, but also to exchange experience, learn about industry trends, regional initiatives from different countries, prospects and problems of skateboarding in the Olympic movement. There is no other event in the world right now for our audience with such a rich cultural and educational programme for skateboarding activists from developing and developed countries,” commented IIlya Vdovin, President of the Russian Skateboarding Federation, on the eve of the event.

Photo: Grand Skate Tour 2023