Main image: James Renhard

Street League Skateboarding is coming to London. The most prestigious, not to mention most financially rewarding skateboard competition in the world is headed to the UK.

On 26th and 27th May (Spring Bank Holiday, so you get a day off on Monday as well) many of the most successful, and most famous skateboarders in the world will descend on London.

The event will be the opening date of the 2018 Street League competition, which is quite the coup for the capital, and further signals that London is one of the world’s leading skateboard cities.

You can get your hands on tickets from today. Just visit the Street League Skateboarding website.

SLS Pro Open London will not only be a showcase for the cream of skateboarding talent from around the world, including the likes of Nyjah Huston and Shane O’Neill, but it will shine a light on the city’s incredible skate scene, challenge preconceived negative perceptions of the sport, and bring together numerous communities within London and the wider UK.

Not bad for, what is essentially, a bunch of folk playing around on a wooden toy made for children.

“It’s great to see London embracing its rich culture by bringing SLS to the city”

British skateboard legend Geoff Rowley – the Liverpudlian fella from the THPS games, not to mention some of the most acclaimed skateboard videos in history – agrees. “British skateboarding has held some incredible contests in the past that have gone on to grow and shape the skate scene in Europe – and worldwide. It’s great to see the city of London embracing that rich culture by bringing SLS to the city”

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The SLS Pro open will see skaters from around the world hitting a custom-built concrete skate plaza designed, in true SLS style, to push the progression of the sport by really challenging the skaters.

Fans of skating are going to love it, but SLS have also ensured that the casual observer (including the occasional mum and dad who’re taking a grom or two along for a rad day out) are going to be involved as well.

The competition features an exciting yet easy-to-follow format, helped along by instant scoring, which means the action will be coming right down to the buzzer, something everybody can get excited about.

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Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan – a man who’s swiftly proving himself to be somebody who gets why skateboarding is so important to London, said “I look forward to welcoming the world’s top skateboarders to London next month. The capital already has a vibrant skateboarding scene and I hope this event inspires a new generation to take up the sport.” Quite.