Since its inception in the 1950s, skateboarding has created a community of passionate individuals hitting the streets with their wheels. As it spreads worldwide, skateboarding has also created its own culture and given a new layer to streetwear.

Those things are at the center of this year’s Go Skateboarding Day. First organized by The International Association of Skateboarding in 2004, the special skate holiday brings skateboarders from around the world to celebrate skateboarding culture. For 12 years, Vans has supported the event in the Asia Pacific region.

This year’s Go Skateboarding Day in the Philippines is no different. Last June 15, 2024, Van Philippines spearheaded a celebration filled with community-building activities. Held at MetroTent Convention Center in Pasig City, the event was attended by over 2,500 attendees participating in its skate sessions with key communities like The Rail PH, Calle PH, Wang Hardware, Malachi PH, and The SkateMunchkins. Acclaimed skate athletes and Vans Team riders Cindy Lou Serna of Skate Pilipinas, up-and-coming Justin Estenzo, and para-athlete Kevin Almazan showed off some gnarly tricks during the open exhibitions.

“We like to do things differently and Vans has always been different with how they do things,” Alphonsus, Action Sports marketing representative said. “We’ve seen the growth of the culture over time; I myself have personally seen it expand into such a big community compared to how we started. Our goal is to always push the culture forward and make it something that the community always looks forward to.”

Apart from skateboarding demonstrations, Go Skateboarding Day stage also featured high-energy performances from False Contender, Badwave, The Chongkeys, and Waiian. One of the evening’s highlights was the long-awaited reunion of rap group Kartell’em, igniting an eruption of cheers and chants which was five years in the making.

“A roaring crowd is probably an understatement,” Tina Ortiz, COO of Vans Philippines said. “There was definitely a lot more energy and excitement. We do this every year, but the energy of the crowd was different, and we’ve seen a lot more females and younger people skate, which is what we’re trying to achieve.”

Vans Philippines also supported other regional activities in different parts of the country such as Davao, Cebu, Manila with Skate Pilipinas and One Manila Organization with JCI Manila, Pampanga, Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and many others, set to take place on June 16, June 21, June 22, and June 29, respectively.

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