Athens, GR (Feb 6) – It’s one of our favourite times of year again and we’re back to cause some (friendly) chaos. It’s Vans Shop Riot Finals and this year’s edition will take place on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th February in Athens, Greece – aligned with Skate Shop Day.

Now in its 14th year, the original concept by Vans celebrates Europe’s finest street skaters, whilst offering the core skateboard scene and the best skate shop teams from all over Europe an authentic platform for recognition and community. This year the series finale will come to a dramatic close amongst the ancient ruins of Athens (a little different to the last finals in rainy Manchester) to determine who will be crowned the Vans Shop Riot Champions. Joined by the Vans Greek skate team, as well as European team riders including Chris Pfanner, Doobie, Willow Voges Fernandes, Martino Cattaneo, Helena Long, Vanessa Konte and Axel Cruysberghs.

Over the last seven months, Vans Shop Riot has made its way across Europe, stopping in 14 different countries for the regional qualifiers – victorious shops include last year’s winners Venero, Spain and newcomers like BaySixty6 from London. They will join 12 other skate shop teams competing for a total prize purse of €12,000.

This year, Vans Shop Riot had some big changes to the format, including at least 2 genders on each team of 4 and a new contest format with a mix of team skate competitions and creative team challenges. The two-day event will take place in two locations. Saturday happens at Galatsi DIY and will include the team challenges and team contest. In the evening, we’ll join the Color Skates x Skate Shop Day celebration at their Athens store. And on Sunday, we’ll move over to the iconic Kotzia Square for the street challenges and celebrations. Post-event celebrations at Bios include DJ sets and video premieres of “Strolling Through Germany” (Vans Europe & Vans Germany) and “Nous” (Vans Greece).

Vans has partnered once again with the incredibly important Ben Raemers Foundation who will work with local organizations Epapsy and Free Movement to run activations for the community, building awareness around mental health through skateboarding. And a new partner this year is Skate Shop Day, who will host a workshop on Saturday morning at Galatsi for kids to learn how to build their boards in partnership with Color Skates.

Vans will have a pop-up shop on site across both days, including Vans Shop Riot merch, Skate Shop Day merch and a selection of Vans Skate footwear and apparel.

Vans Shop Riot Finals is open to the public and will kick-off at 12pm on Saturday at Galatsi and 11.30am on Sunday at Kotzia. For more information, head to Vans.eu/ShopRiot.