Skateboarding legend to headline summer sports festival in Va. Beach
Hawk announces visit during State of the City event
VIRGINIA BEACH — The Birdman is coming to Virginia Beach.
Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk will headline the free Jackalope sports festival June 2-4 at the Oceanfront. Hawk delivered the news during a video announcement at the annual Virginia Beach State of the City event Wednesday.
Hawk will participate in the Vert Showdown showcase at 8:30 p.m. June 3. That event will also feature 10-year-old skater Reese Nelson and local skateboarder Collin Graham, according to the festival website.
“Any time you say ‘skate,’ you say ‘Tony Hawk,’ ” Jackalope site director George Alcaraz said after the event. “You get everyone’s attention.”
Originally announced at the 2022 State of the City event, the Jackalope festival also will feature BMX, surfing and other extreme sports. Alcaraz said BASE jumpers will leap off the 252-foot Hilton hotel and land on the beach. A huge vert ramp, a type of halfpipe, and a professional rock climbing wall will be constructed at the beach site.
If the festival is successful, organizers want to hold a U.S. tour with the championships at Virginia Beach in the future, Alcaraz said.
Also at this year’s State of the City address, Mayor Bobby Dyer and City Manager Patrick Duhaney took turns listing recent accomplishments, such as bringing back Pharrell Williams’ Something in the Water music festival and convincing drone company DroneUp to remain in the city as it spends $7 million dollars and adds 510 jobs in expanding its headquarters.
In 2022, businesses spent $286 million to move to or expand in the city, creating more than 800 positions, Duhaney said.
“Yes, a diverse variety of large-scale business activity in our city shows that Virginia Beach always has an eye toward the future,” Dyer added.
Additionally, the leaders touted a planned Old Dominion University data science school at Town Center. The pair also applauded developments across Virginia Beach Boulevard, where the owners of Pembroke Mall are spending $200 million to turn the property into Pembroke Square, a multiuse development with retail, senior housing, upscale apartments and a hotel.
“With this evolution into Pembroke Square, this new development will continue to serve as a special gathering place for those who live, work and visit throughout the Central Business District for decades to come,” Duhaney said.
Duhaney also noted that Virginia Beach residents will have an opportunity to
comment on the city’s new 10-1 district voting system. Residents can access the survey from March 25 through April 3 at SpeakUpVB.com.
The new voting system was implemented in November after a U.S. District Court ruled the at-large system diluted minority voting. The City Council won an appeal, but it was too late to change for the 2022 election. Under the new system, voters elected the most diverse city council in history.