Jackalope Block Party Extends Deal With Ventura, California

The Jackalope Block Party action sports festival announced a two-year renewal with Visit Ventura on Tuesday, just weeks after the initial version brought more than 50,000 people to the event just blocks from the ocean in Ventura, California, about 65 miles north of Los Angeles.

Jackalope is a Montreal-based skateboarding and action sports events company that is part of Tribu Expérientiel, led by founder and CEO Micah Desforges. The Block Party, which is free to the public, has one stage for vert skateboarding and roughly 100 athletes taking part. Last month that included legends like Bob Burnquist and Steve Caballero, as well as open vert competitions for men and women and an under-15 competitions for boys and girls. JD Sanchez won the men’s open vert with a near-perfect score of 99 despite riding with a broken left wrist, while Juno Matsuoka landed three consecutive 540s, each with a different grab, to win the women’s vert.

WATCH: Recapping the Jackalope Block Party in 90 seconds

Ventura had hosted X Games in 2023 and 2024, but when Desforges learned (at SportsTravel‘s TEAMS Conference) that X Games was moving on, he sensed an opportunity for his nascent property.

“It felt like a true partnership,” he said. “X Games had paved the way in honoring the culture. What we saw from the experience and myself going back and seeing and connecting with the locals was that there’s a way to keep honoring and celebrating action sports and skateboarding specifically.”

It’s no surprise that Desforges would pick up on the passion for action sports that the town has long possessed.

“The celebration of the sport and the disciplines is kind of something that speaks to your soul, and we have an action sports soul,” said Marlyss Auster, president and CEO, Ventura Visitors and Convention Bureau.

Initially Ventura wanted to do a three-year deal with Jackalope, but settled for a 1+2 arrangement, whereby a successful first year would trigger a two-year extension. That is exactly what happened. The initial goal, said Auster, was to get 450 hotel room nights out of the event and “we far exceeded that.”

Next year’s event will be staged April 30—May 2.

Targeting The Games

A big pull for being in the Los Angeles area, of course, is the upcoming 2028 Olympic Summer Games, which will include skateboarding as a full-fledged medal sport for the first time after it debuted as discretionary event in Tokyo and Paris at the past two Summer Games.

“They get it,” Desforges said of skateboarding in Southern California in general and Ventura in particular. “For us it’s finding a sweet balance. We also want to celebrate the culture and the community where it’s already strong.”

Three events remain on Jackalope’s schedule this year: Mississauga, Ontario, from July 10—12, Montreal from September 11—13 and Newscastle, Australia, in November. Desforges said his goal is to eventually have 10 or even 20 events around the world within the next five years.

“There’s no point in being somewhere for one year,” Desforges said. “The goal is to be in every market for 10 years or more.”

One down in Ventura, nine more to go.