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MARSEILLE, FRANCE – 24 August 2026: One of Europe’s most storied bowl-skating landmarks, Marseille’s Bowl du Prado, will host the world’s best skateboarders from August 28-30 at Red Bull Bowl Rippers, sporting a fresh artistic look created by local artist Chloé Bernard.
This year, 2023 men’s champion Danny Leon and 2018 women’s champion Yndiara Asp of Brazil are among the riders lining up in the high-energy jam format, where up to six skateboarders compete in the bowl at once, linking tricks and lines within a limited time frame.
Inspired by the Californian concrete parks and empty swimming pools that shaped modern transition skating, the Bowl du Prado was created in 1991 at a moment when many of those same large-scale skateparks had disappeared in the United States amid insurance pressures.
Designed by architect and skateboarder Jean-Pierre Collinet, the Prado’s continuous concrete forms soon turned Marseille into an international proving ground for generations of bowl skaters.
Red Bull Bowl Rippers will stream Live on August 30 on the Red Bull Skateboarding YouTube Channel and Red Bull TV. Hosts Chris Roberts, Omar Hassan, Eunice Chang (NotCheetos), and David Gravette will leave the traditional commentary desk behind to roam the bowl, connect with the crowd and YouTube chat, and capture the free-spirited energy of Marseille.
Key Facts
- Event: Red Bull Bowl Rippers
- Dates: August 28-30, 2026
- Location: Marseille, France
- Skaters: 60 pro competitors, including Red Bull athletes Yndiara Asp, Gavin Bottger, Hinano Kusaki, Danny Leon, Viktor Solmunde, Jake Wooten, and Sakura Yosozumi
- Event Concept: High-energy skateboarding jam format in Bowl du Prado
- Broadcast: Live on Red Bull TV and the Red Bull Skateboarding YouTube Channel on August 30, hosted by skate personalities Chris Roberts, Omar Hassan, Eunice Chang (NotCheetos) and David Gravette
- 2026 Bowl Artwork: Marseille-based artist and former professional skateboarder and World Skate judge Chloé Bernard, whose original treatment of the Prado continues the bowl’s long connection between skateboarding and visual culture
Context
Collinet translated the flowing geometry of Californian pool skating into a purpose-built Mediterranean skatepark, with interconnected cavities and clover-like forms reaching 2.70 m at their deepest. The different depths and curves still allow riders to create long, flowing lines rather than isolated tricks.
He designed it to conserve a rider’s energy: potential energy gained through height becomes kinetic energy and vice versa, allowing riders to maintain speed through the transitions. The City of Marseille characterises the bowl’s interconnected cavities as evoking an “endless wave,” and regards the site as a lieu de vie – literally a “place of life,” or a social and community space – rather than simply a piece of sporting infrastructure.
That Californian influence also became part of Prado’s wider cultural identity, with long-time local skater Julien Benoliel likening Marseille to a kind of French California because of its sea, sun, barbecues, and beach parties. Prado would itself later become influential abroad, with French accounts citing its design as a model for a later bowl at Huntington Beach, California.
Before Red Bull Bowl Rippers continued the competitive tradition, the launch of the Bowlriders competition in 1999 marked another turning point, internationalising Prado’s reputation and bringing American skate icons such as Tony Hawk, Tony Alva, and Omar Hassan to the French city.
Its recreation as the Marseille level in 2000’s seminal Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 gave Prado a parallel digital life, introducing its signature contours to players around the world before many ever saw the real bowl.
Local skaters associated with the Bowl du Prado include Julien Benoliel, Laurent Molinier, Mehdi Salah and Vincent Matheron, helping establish a strong Marseille lineage alongside the international riders who have passed through the bowl.
Continuing the Legacy
Prado’s longevity has depended as much on preservation as reinvention. After decades of heavy use, a €590,000 renovation in 2017 restored the ageing concrete while retaining the forms that had made the bowl internationally recognisable. New spectator stands also changed the way people gathered around the bowl, replacing some of the older habit of picnicking or lying on the grass to watch the action.
Visual reinvention has also long been part of Prado’s identity, from graffiti interventions by artists like NOYPS (Philippe Lacoste), and competition paint schemes to the psychedelic “Flower Power” treatment of 2014. Bernard’s 2026 artwork therefore continues an existing Marseille tradition: the bowl as both sporting terrain and public canvas.
The Prado’s cultural reach now extends beyond conventional skate competition. The 2026 Urban Bowl Fest brought BMX and parkour demonstrations, live graffiti, DJ programming, free introductory sessions and a roller disco to the site.
Red Bull Bowl Rippers Competition Format
Each rider has 45 seconds for a solo run before a decisive jam session that accounts for 80 percent of their score. Riders are judged on use of the bowl, technicality, risk-taking, amplitude, and style with a framework that rewards flow, creativity, and the ability to replicate the raw spirit of Marseille’s iconic skate community.
- Friday, August 28: A day dedicated to amateur skateboarders
- Saturday, August 29: 40 riders go head-to-head in the men’s pro qualifiers from 6 pm.
- Sunday, August 30: Finals Day, with women’s semi-finals from 4.30 pm, men’s semi-finals from 6 pm, women’s final at 6.50 pm, and men’s final at 7.10 pm.
Watch the Red Bull Bowl Rippers global livestream on August 30 on the Red Bull Skateboarding YouTube Channel and Red Bull TV.
Learn More
- History of Red Bull Bowl Rippers
- Go behind the scenes at 2023 Red Bull Bowl Rippers
- Discover what life on a board means to the world’s best skaters in the Skate Tales series
- Relive one of 2025’s biggest skate moments: Red Bull Building Drop
