Provided it was planned for. The demands of an event cannot be bolted on afterwards: they are settled at concept stage, and at that point they cost almost nothing.
A skatepark that hosts a competition is never quite the same again on the Monday. It is the argument we hear least often in meetings, and one of the strongest.
An event brings residents onto the site who had never set foot there — parents, neighbours, councillors. Many discover on that occasion that the facility is meant for them too.
Watching experienced riders on your own spot moves the club's riders on faster than a whole season of training. The effect shows in the following months' attendance.
A sports facility is hard to tell a story about. An event is not — it comes with pictures, local press and a date that returns each year. That is what turns an investment into shared pride.
What we do not put a figure on. Economic impact and post-event attendance are regularly invoked and rarely measured. We would rather claim nothing than repeat a figure with no source — and we would urge you to treat the ones in circulation with caution.
The Urban Arts and Sports Festival held its 24th edition from 11 to 14 July 2026 at the Parc de la Pépinière, and served as the opening of Gap's international skatepark. More than 300 athletes and artists from the French and international scene gathered there, with free entry throughout.
The programme mixes freestyle skating and scooter, hip-hop, street art, 3x3 basketball and roller disco — in other words, far more than sport. Evolving Skatepark designed the facility: 2,000 m² combining a streetpark and France's largest freestyle park optimised for skating.
View the project →Founded in 1998 by the town of Pessac, Vibrations Urbaines is one of France's oldest festivals devoted to urban culture. The 28th edition runs from 11 September to 11 October 2026: nine events over five weeks, taking in concerts, dance battles, murals and skateboard, BMX, skate and scooter contests. Most events are free.
The riding contests are split across two sites: the Forêt du Bourgailh pumptrack for Ride & Rythm on 12 September, and the Bellegrave skatepark for the BMX Contest from 18 to 20 September, then the scooter and freestyle skating contest from 25 to 27 September. All three are free to attend.
The Bellegrave skatepark, designed by Evolving Skatepark and delivered in 2024, offers 1,646 m² of riding surface on a 3,271 m² site. Day to day it is home to Pessac BMX Club and the freestyle scooter section of SPUC Roller.
View the project →
None of these points costs much at scheme design. All of them cost a great deal, or become impossible, once the concrete is poured.
| The point | What to plan for | If it is overlooked |
|---|---|---|
| Templates and dimensions | Heights, radii and run-up lengths compliant with the governing body's requirements for the discipline concerned | The event is held elsewhere |
| Run-off zones | Enough clearance around the modules for falls, judges and safety | Reduced capacity, or refusal of certification |
| Spectator view | A topography that forms natural terracing rather than stands hired every year | The action cannot be seen |
| Technical access | A route a lorry can use: PA, structures, emergency services | Everything carried by hand, cost doubled |
| Utilities | Power supply and a water point brought to the edge of the site during the works | Generators and cables across the ground |
| Surfacing | Tighter flatness tolerances on the landing areas | The level of riding hits a ceiling |
These six points appear in our concept-stage notes as soon as an authority mentions, however vaguely, the idea of one day hosting an event.
A federation rating is not a decorative badge: it determines what kind of event the facility can host, and therefore how far its reputation reaches.
Evolving Skatepark designs in line with the requirements of the French Cycling Federation and the French Roller Sports and Skateboarding Federation, and with the AFNOR SPEC 52-113 standard.
World level at Roubaix (59), national level at Rennes (35) and Barr (67). A rating awarded by the federation, not a sales promise: Barr's was secured at the design stage, before construction was even finished.
We hold no company certification and no federation affiliation. What we can show is rated facilities, and events actually held on them.
We raise the question of events in the first conversation, even when the town has not thought about it. "No" is a perfectly good answer — but it should be a choice.
We price the real extra cost of the six trade-offs above, separately, so that the authority decides with the facts in hand.
We stay on the ground. Luc Bourdin judges skatepark competitions: the man who sized the modules is the one who then watches riders use them, heat after heat. It is the best feedback a designer can get.
We answer a town launching its feasibility study just as readily as an authority still weighing up whether a facility makes sense at all. The first conversation costs nothing and often clears up a great deal.