What is Go Skateboarding Day and Where Did It Come From?
The birth of Go Skateboarding Day coincides with when I started skating almost perfectly. While I took up skating in 2003, the holiday came shortly after the following year in 2004, but what’s the story behind it’s inception? Read along as I explain the history behind this very personal holiday as well as my experience with it throughout the years.
Me and friends celebrating Go Skateboarding Day in 2016.
Go Skateboarding Day History
Go Skateboarding Day was created in 2004 by the International Association of Skateboard Companies (IASC), but its origins stretch back further. The idea gained traction after a New York-based event called the All Star City Skate Jam was created by Kerel "SriKala" Roach and Bryan Chin in 2002. There is some controversy over whether or not the event and the holiday are actually connected as some say that they are, while a member of the IASC named Don Brown has said publicly that the organization was unaware of previous celebrations.
Whichever is the truth, a much-needed holiday was born and has been celebrated ever since on June 21st; the first day of summer and longest day of the year. According to All Star event organizer, Bryan Chin in his Quarter Snack interview, this type of skateboarding camaraderie was especially needed in New York City after 9/11.
“I was logging footage in the ABC Skateshop office on E. 13th Street with Kerel Roach. We were talking about how skateboarding in New York sucked at the time. Security was so tight after 9/11. Downtown was basically a ghost town. Everything was very cliquish. I think people avoided skating with other people. They would actually say things like, “I’m going to skate this spot — you can’t come,” because they didn’t want too many people increasing the bust factor. It made me miss back in the eighties and nineties when you would skate the Banks with twenty of your closest friends, then everyone would skate Seaport together, skate Astor together, get food together, go to midtown together.
There were also very few skateboard events going on in New York at the time. It was like we were re-realizing what I had realized when I was inspired to start Metrospective: nobody in the industry cared about New York.”
Right around 2004/2005, skateboarding companies got involved. This translated to sponsored events being held all over the country. It went from being just a skate jam to a nationally celebrated day. Personally, the first huge gathering in an advertisement I remember was through the brand Emerica in 2010. I recall the pictures and videos that came from it and they looked insane. Roads were packed and shutdown by hundreds of skateboarders. I’d never seen anything like it before. It was BEAUTIFUL.
My Experience With Go Skateboarding Day
Although it’s fun to commerate our sport all at once, I’ve never really viewed it any differently from other days. However, I’ll never complain about a holiday that may influence a friend to come out and skate when normally they would cancel plans to take care of their kids, work, or whatever. (This tends to happen a lot once you reach 30 years old and beyond.)
My first time participating in GSD was probably around 2006/2007/2008, (I can’t remember exactly). A bunch of skaters met in downtown Dallas early in the morning and slowly split up. Our goal was to conquer as many of the city’s spots as possible. We skated the USPS 9 stair, the manny pads near cancer plaza next to the DART rail, Founder’s Square, arts district area, American Airlines area, West End plaza, Dallas Convention Center, and random uptown spots as well as some gaps near Deep Ellum. It was an amazing all day skate sesh.
As the Texas heat showered down us, we found refuge in the afternoon under an awning off Commerce Street. I cant remember the exact temperature, but it was definitely in the 100’s. With water being scarce and heat exhaustion eminent, my small group of friends headed toward the DART station off Pearl St. We boarded and traveled back toward the Garland Station all exhausted and passing out on the train. It was one of the best skate days ever.
Below, I’ve created a video to come out in tandem with this article so I can expand on my experience with GSD, explain it’s history to my YouTube audience, and show video clips from different years I’ve participated in Go Skateboarding Day, (mostly in downtown Dallas). I hope you enjoyed this article and get a kick out of the old footage below. Thanks for reading and watching!
