Singapore to stage festival for urban sports such as parkour, skateboarding and Hyrox in August

SINGAPORE – When the Olympics get underway in Paris from July 26, many eyebrows will be raised as the world’s best athletes attempt feats and do battle on sport’s grandest stage for a fortnight.

Plenty of arms and legs will also be lifted as breaking, a dance sport, makes its debut after several other urban sports such as skateboarding, sport climbing and 3x3 basketball made spectacular bows at the Tokyo Games.

Seeking to tap on these sports’ increasing popularity, Sport Singapore announced on May 18 that it will be holding the inaugural Singapore Urban Sports & Fitness Festival from Aug 23 to Sept 1.

The 10-day fiesta will feature master classes, exhibitions and competitions for genres such as street dance, fitness racing, parkour, skateboarding and obstacle laser run.

Bringing together more than 10 partners from the urban sports and fitness sectors, the events will be held at places such as Singapore Expo, Jurong Lake Gardens and Marina Square.

In a media statement, SportSG said it hopes the festival will serve as a platform to rally communities to support the local urban sporting scene. It also envisions the festival to become a top annual event in Asia, as it seeks to draw participation from more local teens and young adults.

The festival was launched on May 18 at the Funan Mall Atrium, where there was also a showcase of the various activities.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Culture, Community and Youth Eric Chua was among those who tried his hand at the obstacle laser run by Singapore Modern Pentathlon Association and the rowing machine at Hyrox’s showcase.

Roy Teo, SportSG’s chief of industry development, technology, and innovation group, said it hopes that the festival will help make sports more accessible to the masses.

He said: “In our annual NSPS (National Sport & Exercise Participation Survey)… we see (demand for) urban sports, including calisthenics (exercises that rely on body weight for resistance) increasing over the years.

“Around the world, you will also see that the interest in urban sports has picked up. One very clear example is the inclusion of urban sports in Olympics and major Games.”

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Culture, Community and Youth Eric Chua trying a rowing machine at the Hyrox booth. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH

Fitness enthusiasts can also look forward to FWE (Fitness + Wellness Expo). Organised by Hybrid Group, this will feature over 50 leading fitness and wellness brands. It expects to draw a crowd of over 15,000 on Aug 31 and Sept 1.

The festival will also see mass participation fitness races such as the popular Hyrox series which made a successful debut at the National Stadium last October, when it drew over 3,500 participants.

Hyrox combines running with functional workouts such as 50m sled pull, 80m burpee broad jumps and 1,000m rowing.

Gary Wan, managing director at Hyrox Asia Pacific, is expecting at least 6,000 participants in their second Hyrox race at the same venue on June 29.

Hyrox’s third race here, which will be part of the urban sports festival, will take place at the Singapore Expo on Aug 31 and Sept 1.

Wan said the competitive element has been the reason for Hyrox’s popularity in Singapore. He said: “There are so many people who go to the gyms on a daily basis, but they don’t have a form of competition that actually motivates them... We saw the market gap and we want to create competitions for this group of audience.”

Mr Tan Chi Ying, founder A2 Parkour, demonstrating parkour moves at a preview of the festival. ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH

Troy Tham, an avid parkour athlete who demonstrated a routine to an audience at the Funan Mall launch, is looking forward to the festival.

The 15-year-old Gan Eng Seng School student said: “I feel that this festival is a step in the right direction... A lot of these (urban) sports offer people something new.

“My main goal is to just have a community with a reasonable size, and to have that community go out and train together because a big part of parkour is about pushing your fears.”

• Additional reporting by Maximilian Oh