Toronto Roll 2024
Hello Hello. Stephen @Whataspoon here. Myself, Ila and Si from the Slicks Skate Crew took a trip over to Toronto in Canada to attend the Toronto Roll event that was hosted by Bill Stoppard. Bill is a famous youtube star within our sport and has fans all over the world. His Youtube channel is known for Bill's soft voice narrating as he skates around wherever he may be, explaining techniques that can be used to handle any terrain on skates. He started this event last year with Toronto Roll 2023 and has now successfully hosted a second year running which was apparently way bigger and better. The Slicks Skate Crew attended this event as "superhosts" where we got the vibes going and provided workshops for the attendees. Check out this video below of Ila teaching stops and deceleration to some keen students.The event took place in the Stackt Market. A spot full of little containers that have shops inside them which is situated in the heart of the city with easy access and space to skate around. The plan was to do the workshops in the afternoon ending with a roller disco before hitting the streets for a large group skate of around 200 skaters. The disco was a great idea as whilst the confident skaters were out on the streets, the beginners could hang out at the Stackt Market and enjoy the disco. The event was also sponsored by Insta360 who supplied Bill with two of their camera's to give away during workshops led by Alexei Morita, all about how to use these fancy cameras to help improve your 360 video content. The fact that Insta360 wanted to be involved shows how massive this event truly is.
At the event we met people from all over the Americas. So many had made the effort to fly from the US and Mexico to attend this mass gathering. Bill calls the group "The Horde" and the name fits perfectly. There were city skaters, wizard skaters, aggressive skaters, quad skaters and of course, since we are in Canada, ice hockey players all coming together to enjoy the amazing route planned by Bill. We also had some other big names in attendance like Alexei Morita, Ari - The Stuttering Skater and Camden - Buzzkill Blade. The superstar lineup really helped add a huge atmosphere to the event. Check out the below video of Si teaching some precision skating in his workshop below.
The street skate itself took us through the main attractions of the city, past the famous CN Tower, through the financial district and even through a shopping mall. It was marshalled by a team of Bill's friends who blocked cars from splitting up the group. The marshals of the street skate earned our utmost respect for keeping us all safe and together during a street skate whilst continuing to fuel the vibes with their amazing positive attitudes. It's easy for us all to get too excited and stand in the way of cars and pedestrians as we wait at crosswalks in a group of 200 skaters. These marshals were very patient and respectable with us as they kept us in check.
The whole experience was outstanding and I would absolutely love to get there again for another one. I love that Bill organised a full day of events and not just a simple street skate. We do have our beloved Grand Skate Tour in the UK which is doing something similar on a regular basis throughout the year in different cities throughout the UK so be sure to get to one of those events if you can too. There are a few street skates around the world that stand out more than others. Most cities have their normal Friday Night Skates as well as a few that have Sunday Strolls, Wednesday Night Skates and more, like London, Paris, Barcelona and NYC for example. But there are a few events happening annually that are considered mass gatherings like:
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The NYC Big Apple Roll
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Los Angeles Big Avocado Roll
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Miami Skater Migration
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London Halloween Skate and Santa Skate
- And of course the Toronto Roll plus many many more...
