Today in Stoke: Top five Go Skateboarding Day celebrations in Colorado

​Today is the 9th annual international observance of Go Skateboarding Day, a Summer Solstice celebration that's just our style. The skater holiday was originally created as a marketing ploy by the International Association of Skateboard Companies, but has since been embraced by public skateparks and independent skate shops everywhere. It's become a Go Skateboarding Day tradition to amass as many skateboarders as possible at some cool local skate shop, then skate en masse through town to the local skatepark, to the consternation of fist-shaking motorists. And where better to celebrate than in Colorado, where, by our count, there are now at least 157 skatepark destinations?

Check out our guide to the local haps, after the jump...

​Closest to home is 303 Boards' Platte 4 at 4: Meet at the shop, 1338 East Colfax Avenue, at 11 a.m. for a mass skate downtown that will eventually make its way to an "undisclosed location" for an underground skate contest at 4 p.m. Afterwards, skate back to Tooey's Off Colfax -- the local skaters' watering hole at 1521 Marion Street -- for the local premiere of Not Another TransWorld Video, the 23rd video from TransWorld SKATEboarding (all-ages show at 8 p.m., 21+ at 9 p.m.). "We've toned the whole thing down a bit after cops beat a bunch of kids down a few years ago on Go Skateboarding Day, but it's still a good excuse, in case you need one, to go skateboarding," says 303 Boards owner Sam Schuman. "I don't want to say too much about the other stuff for fear of blowing it out of proportion, but the Tooey's event will be bangin' for sure."

​The cops are reportedly a bit less skater-hater in Broomfield, where the Crisis Skateboards shop and Null Skateboards (a Boulder-based company specializing in skateboard decks and wheels) are partnering to present a full afternoon of contests and demos at the Broomfield Skatepark, 150 Lamar Street. First up? Meet up at 2 p.m. at Crisis, 6821 West 120th Avenue, for a pizza party and -- you guessed it -- a group skate to the park.

​Colorado Springs' Blindside Boardshop is sponsoring Go Skateboarding Day festivities from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Memorial Skatepark (our Best of Denver 2009 pick for Best Skatepark) with live music, demos, and competitions.