As many as 30,000 action-sports fans and athletes will converge on Denver’s Sculpture Park and the Auraria Campus over Labor Day weekend for the FISE World Series.
Europe’s largest BMX and skateboard festival — — has been rolling across Europe and Asia for 19 years, but this is the first time the event will stop in the U.S.
“We want to make sure Denver will be action sports capital of North America,” said Hervè Andrè-Benoit, the general manager of France’s Hurricane Sports Co., which has organized more than 420 FISE events, bringing action sports to to China and France, as well as off-the-beaten-track countries such as Tunisia and Costa Rica.
Local and French event organizers have labored behind the scenes for more than a year, touring Denver and studying potential venues for contests that draw as many as 500,000 people a day in Europe.
City officials only recently joined the effort. Deputy Mayor Don Mares and Denver Sports Commission chief Matthew Payne were part of a news conference at Civic Center on Tuesday. The event saw BMX athletes flipping over a stage under the watchful eye of media and park regulars.
“As these incredible athletes are doing their moves, it gives you such a powerful sense of what this is all about,” Mares said. “It engenders such passionate emotion when you see these folks doing such amazing tricks. We are thrilled to showcase our enthusiasm here with the addition of FISE.”
The Labor Day weekend, which falls on Sept. 3-5, will be busy in metro Denver. The Taste of Colorado takes over Civic Center, drawing half a million people over three days. The Rocky Mountain Showdown football game between Colorado and Colorado State will sell close to 55,000 tickets at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Sept. 2. Vermont jam band its sixth Labor Day weekend stand at the Commerce City venue.
The free FISE event, which is open to both pros and amateurs who qualify, is expected to draw as many as 30,000 spectators. Denver’s convention and visitor’s bureau, Visit Denver, typically plans big events such as FISE years in advance.
Last summer, . The bureau is not worried about being to handle the influx of a new event on top of what already ranks as one of the busiest weekends of the year in metro Denver.
“We are flexible,” bureau spokesman Jesse Davis said.
FISE leaders are not concerned either.
BMX and skateboard athletes are already lining up to compete, especially since the FISE World Series is serving as UCI’s first-ever BMX Freestyle Park World Cup. FISE has a long history of organizing events on short timelines in challenging venues, Andrè-Benoit said.
“This is just the beginning of a huge story in the U.S. market and specifically in Denver,” he said.
Jason Blevins: 303-954-1374, jblevins@denverpost.com or @jasonblevins
