Event

For three days in April, downtown Hiroshima will take on a new vibe as crowds of breakdancers, freestyle BMX riders, parkour players and other extreme athletes converge on the site of the former municipal stadium just north of Peace Park for FISE Hiroshima. FISE, which stands for Festival International des Sports Extrêmes, started in France as a way to bring a number of fledgling extreme sports leagues together for a joint event. The first Festival, held in 1997, drew around 100 athletes and an estimated 35,000 spectators. Today the festival is hosted in a number of cities around the world, with many competitors traveling from one venue to the next. This year’s round of events kicked off in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. After the Hiroshima Festival, it will move on to France, Canada, and Hungary before wrapping up the year with a November festival in Chengdu, China. If you’re even remotely interested in extreme sports, this seems like something you won’t want to miss. Bouldering, skating, breakdancing, BMX and more, all happening simultaneously in what seems like a relatively small venue. Some of the competitors will be going on to the Olympics, and this is a good chance to get an…