Check out the whole programme!
The Rotterdam Architecture Month will take place from June 1 to June 30, 2023. This year it will be extra spectacular with a floating festival heart that settles on the water in the Maashaven.
The festival heart consists of three huge floating barges of about 76 meters long and 11 meters wide, one of which is completely devoted to urban sports, such as skateboarding, free running, football and dance. Don't miss this unique experience on the water!
The urban sports box was designed by freerunner Onur Eren (RUSH World) in collaboration with Studio Marco Vermeulen. It will be equipped with a mini ramp, a freerun course and a section of free space. The urban sports area in the heart of the festival will become a lively place where different sports come together - from freerunning and skateboarding to street football and dance. This also creates cross-pollination and meeting between athletes.
Freerunner Onur: “In the arena we want to facilitate people to do various urban sports, but we also want to 'exhibit' these sports and encourage people to try them out. Urban sports can have a positive impact on people and the city; they are good for your health, including because they cost next to nothing and open to everyone. As an urban athlete, you use and see the space around you very differently – the whole city is your playground.”
In collaboration with RUSH World and Skateland, among others, workshops and other events in the field of (urban) sports are organized throughout the month of June in which everyone can participate. On June 7, it's time for the Maashaven Run, which starts and ends on the floating festival heart, and also goes through the surrounding neighborhoods.
During the Skate Symposium on Go Skateboarding Day (June 21) none other than skate guru Leo Valls will be visiting, who will tell the visitors all about his work. He managed to transform his home city of Bordeaux from a conservative city with a skate-resistant urban design and policy, into a city in which the municipality successfully collaborates with skaters. What can we learn from skaters about the public space in Rotterdam?
In addition to a place for urban sports, the floating festival heart will include a green park and an event space for lectures, debates, performances and other events. The three boxes are connected by a footbridge, which also functions as one elongated walking route and vantage point over the water, the city and the three boxes.
At the same time, the route is an outdoor exhibition in which visitors are informed in an accessible way about the possibilities of building on water, the value of street culture for urban development and the importance of greenery for a growing city.
The festival heart floats in a place where a brand new city park will be created in a few years: the Nelson Mandela Park. There will also be plenty of room for urban sports, games and events in this park.
The festival heart is actually a kind of test location; this summer, visitors can already experience what it is like to walk, do sports and listen to music in that place. And by sharing knowledge and working together during the Rotterdam Architecture Month, energy and a network can be created on which the further development of the Nelson Mandela Park can be built.
When: the Rotterdam Architecture Month will take place from 1 June to 30 June 2023.
Where: the festival heart is located in the Maashaven, but the entire program consists of about 125 events spread over more than 40 locations.
Start ticket sales: ticket sales for the festival heart will start on 1 May. Tickets are €3.50. With your Rotterdam pass you can enter for free. On Sunday 4 June there is a residents' day and local residents do not have to pay an entrance fee.
Skate free hours: the entire month of June you can skate for free at the festival heart during the skate free hours. Click on the button below to find out when this is.
Are you there this year?