The 21st of June is officially (well, for skateboarders at least) Go Skateboarding Day, with the longest day of the year set aside for people to celebrate the act of skateboarding. All across the world today there are hundreds of events bringing together skateboarders young and old, professional and new to skateboarding and more so this year because it is the 10th anniversary of the event.

Portsmouth and Southsea have a very, very long association with skateboarding going right back to the the early 70s (you can find out all about it with our interview with Dread City Skates). Southsea Skatepark is on it’s way to it’s 40th birthday and back in it’s heyday of the late 80s and early 90s Southsea was home to professional skateboarders Mark & Barry Abrook and Gary Lee as well as home to infamous skate events and parties. The park was a regular stop on many American professional skateboard tours with people like Ed Templeton, Mark Gonzales, Mike Vallely, Rodney Mullen and Tony Hawk also visiting. In recent years the city has been home to Bored of Southsea, a skater owned skateshop on Albert Road that has reached it’s own 15th anniversary, plus is also home to skate companies like 14:01 and Signature.

If you want to get involved and have always thought about trying out skateboarding a great place to pick up your first setup is Bored. They can offer you advice on what equipment might be right for you and all the staff know what they are talking about with probably 50 years of skateboarding collectively under their belts. Once you have that sorted Southsea Skatepark does beginner sessions and is also a good place to get started and is open this afternoon and evening if you are keen plus there are smaller parks scattered around the city. The city is also home to loads of great street spots too.

(Photos by Paul Gonella)