Skateboarding
Go behind the scenes of a European mega-tour with some of the biggest names in the skateboarding game today.
The Drop-In Europe Tour 2022 was our trans-European express through some of the continent’s most vital skate scenes, comprised of five incredible skate demos in five different countries, in only eight days.
We tasked Ira Ingram (who made the 2019 blockbuster You Good?) with following our squad across Europe for a backstage look at what life on a skateboarding mega-tour really looks like.
In the video above, enjoy his view of how our international road crew blew the roof off demos in Barcelona, Marseille, Prague, Cologne and Amsterdam during September and October 2022.
Get the lowdown as Red Bull Drop In Tour concludes in Amsterdam
It was perhaps appropriate that our first major European skate demo tour would reach the end of the road in Amsterdam. With the previous day's date in Cologne sadly rained off, it was a perfect piece of serendipity that meant the Amsterdam demo would take place in arguably the world’s best public indoor skatepark: Noord.
As with so much of Dutch life, Noord sets a progressive agenda on what a skate space can be, and as a result, it's widely considered to be at the forefront of re-imagining the relevance of indoor parks in a part of the world where good weather is far from guaranteed.
Owned and run by some of the oldest and most widely respected skaters in the Dutch scene, it formed a perfect location for Ryan Sheckler, Margie Didal, Jamie Foy, Gustavo Ribeiro, Zion Wright, Torey Pudwill, Felipe Gustavo and Brandon Valjalo to go four to the floor one last time together in Europe.
With one of Noord’s cleverest design features being multiple viewing locations, the whole two-hour throwdown was cheered by a full house of spectators who came out to see our road warriors light up this modern, spacious skatepark.
It was a perfect end to a skate mission that took in Spain, France, the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.
Enjoy the stills from a heavy final demo below and thanks to all the skaters, hosts and friends who came out to vibe with us on 2022’s biggest European skate tour.
Here’s what happened at Red Bull Drop In Tour in Prague
The halfway point in our trans-European express tour of the continent’s most vital skate scenes arrived in the form of Prague, which has one of Europe’s richest and strongest skate cultures.
Having ridden our luck with the weather hitherto, Central Europe would prove, as so often in the past, the place in which summer first gives way to the rains of Autumn, and so it proved as we arrived in the Czech capital.
Thankfully, the Czech scene is well used to inclement weather and the Mystic skatepark on Štvanice island has been entirely covered by an awning to keep the elements at bay. Before the demo began, though, our squad consisting of Torey Pudwill, Ryan Sheckler, Jamie Foy, Zion Wright, Leticia Bufoni, Gustavo Ribeiro, Margie Didal and Alex Sorgente first went to check out host Maxim Habanec’s Maxspace indoor skatepark in Prague’s fashionable Pragovka arts district in order to warm up and sign some boards.
The visit seemed to do the trick, as a full house at the Mystic skatepark witnessed a demo which required zero warm-up time to get sparked.
Enjoy Anthony Acosta’s photos from the packed Czech demo and stay tuned to this page for updates from upcoming Red Bull Drop In Tour events.
Here’s what happened at Red Bull Drop In Tour in Marseille
Leaving behind Barcelona on the outward leg of the 2022 Drop-In Europe Tour, our swashbuckling demo team of Ryan Sheckler, Jamie Foy, Leticia Bufoni, Gustavo Ribeiro, Margie Didal, Torey Pudwill, Alex Sorgente, Zion Wright and Felipe Gustavo bade farewell to our Spanish host Danny Leon to link up with Marseille lifer Vincent Matheron who would introduce them to the incredible La Friche space in the heart of the city.
As well as being an always-open exhibition space, gallery, cinema, restaurant and much more besides, La Friche is also home to a 500 square-metre skatepark made out of a disused alleyway space with balcony views.
A rowdy and fired-up skate crowd lined the overhead walkway to witness the heated demo from a unique bird’s-eye vantage point in a session which will doubtless live long in the skate lore of Marseille.
From Gustavo Ribeiro proving he is really on the cutting edge of flip in/ flip out skateboarding to Vincent Matheron’s handling of the tight, whippy corner bowl and a masterclass in rail skating from Jamie Foy in between, everybody fed off the energy of the crowd to deliver big time in a park most of the crew had never skated before.
Check out photos from the action in the gallery below and enjoy some of the highlights from Marseille over on our Instagram page.
Here’s what happened at Red Bull Drop In Tour in Barcelona
The European edition of Red Bull Drop In Tour got off to a glorious start in Barcelona as the weather did us our first solid favour of the trip by shaking off an overnight thunderstorm to dry the Agora skatepark fully in time for a midday horn-blow.
With a large and noisy crowd already in attendance, the stage was set for the demo, which is likely to set the tempo for the rest of the tour. With the centrepiece volcano/ ledge combo seeing a lot of the biggest throw-downs (Jamie Foy Heelflipped it like nothing, Ryan Sheckler hit a Cab Back Tail and many more besides), the technical specialism of Gustavo Ribeiro and Felipe Gustavo was counterpointed by the transition skills of both Spanish hosts Danny Leon and Zion Wright, who was on hand for both hip 540 and Handicam duties. Enjoy Leticia Bufoni’s showstopper Nollie Inward Heelflip from our Instagram updates and keep the aerials locked down here for the next demo in Marseille, France, incoming next.
Red Bull Drop In Tour is hitting Europe for 5 immense skate demos!
It gives us pleasure to announce that Red Bull Drop In Tour will touch down in Europe later this month for what promises to be five incredible skate demos in five different countries. It’s scheduled to go down over just eight days in some of Europe’s greatest skateboarding cities.
Our buccaneering road crew featuring heavy-hitters Ryan Sheckler, Jamie Foy, Torey Pudwill, Zion Wright, Letícia Bufoni, Gustavo Ribeiro, Margie Didal, Alex Sorgente and Felipe Gustavo will be linking up with more up-and-coming skate stars to showcase their talents in Barcelona, Marseille, Prague, Cologne and Amsterdam on the dates and locations below.
We hope to see you along that road for what promises to be a highlight of the European skateboarding scene in 2022.
- September 24: Skate Agora skatepark, Barcelona
- September 26 La Friche skatepark, Marseille
- September 28: Mystic Skatepark, Prague
- October 1: North Brigade Skatepark, Cologne
- October 2: Noord Skatepark, Amsterdam
