A motion shot of 2 skateboarders in mid air skateboarding above concrete blocks at nighttime.

Wakefield skateboarding - Show and tell

Thu 26 November 2026, 7pm - 9pm

Wakefield Museum

Wakefield Museums and Castles, Wakefield Civic Society and Skate Bylines present:

Wakefield Skateboarding - Show and tell!

Wakefield Museum, Skate Bylines and Wakefield Civic Society are working with the local skateboarding community on an exciting new display! The display will open in the Wakefield One Atrium in 2027 and will celebrate Wakefield's skateboarding history.

We are excited to become one of the few museums in the world to welcome skateboarding into our permanent collection. And you might be able to help us along the way!

We're holding an exclusive evening event at Wakefield Museum. We invite local skateboarders to bring along your objects, photos and stories to share with our team. They may be featured in the display or even added to our collection.

Skateboarding is a rich and varied culture and we’d love to see what’s out there in the community.

So raid your shoeboxes, storerooms and skateboarding collections! Do you have a photo of a spot that doesn’t exist anymore? A newspaper or magazine clipping about skateboarding in the city? A board you rode in Wakefield? Or something else entirely?

Bring your items with you on the night. Please let us know what you're planning to bring. Click here to fill out our submission form before Sunday 22nd November.

The evening will also include micro talks by figures from the skateboarding community. Speakers will discuss the culture's impact on their lives, and how skateboarding links with other creative activities.

26 November 2026

7pm - 9pm

Wakefield Museum

The event takes place in the Pontefract Suite, lower ground floor Wakefield One. Wakefield Museum will open late especially for you to explore.

Free, no booking required

18+

For skateboarding enthusiasts. Please note you need to be aged 18+ to donate or lend an object.

Plan your visit

Speakers include:

Farran Golding — Guest curator

Farran Golding is a journalist from Wakefield. His work explores skateboarding and its cultural perspectives on architecture, design, education, film, media, sports and other subjects.

Peter Taylor — Vice president, Wakefield Civic Society

Peter Taylor joined Wakefield Civic Society’s Executive Committee in 2015. He was elected vice president in 2019. Peter’s hobbies include historical research and archaeology. He will speak about the work of Wakefield Civic Society, which has been building interest in the city since 1964.

Betsy Gordon — Author, curator, researcher, historian and special advisor

Betsy Gordon is a former curator and project manager for the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC and co-author of Four Wheels and a Board: The Smithsonian History of Skateboarding (2022).

Jasmine Lowe — Tattooist and illustrator

Ben Moulson — Graphic designer, DJ and events promoter

Jasmine Lowe and Ben Moulson are artists from Wakefield district. Their artwork has featured as designs for skateboards and other products for Wakefield’s skateboarding store, Division 24.

Wayne Miller — Owner, Division 24 Skate Store

Division 24 celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. It is one of Wakefield’s longest running independent retailers and one of the most established specialist skateboarding stores in the UK.

Ben Powell — Journalist and teacher

Ben Powell was the editor-in-chief of Sidewalk Magazine, the UK’s national skateboarding publication. He continues to contribute to leading British and European publications, Free Skate Mag and The Skateboarder’s Companion.

Callum Christie and Josh Hunter — Photographers

Callum Christie and Josh Hunter are photographers from Wakefield. They began documenting the city’s skateboarding scene during the late 2000s and early 2010s.

Event partners

Wakefield Civic Society is an organisation dedicated to making Wakefield a better place in which to live, work or relax.

Skate Bylines is a publication for long-form journalism about skateboarding culture and its media landscape. The organisation collaborates with grassroots groups, arts and civic institutions. Skate Bylines develops events that aim to bridge cultures through conversations around skateboarding, media and creative pursuits.