World-class skateboarder Tony Hawk * and ESPN *, the leader in action sports programming, have announced the dates of this summer‚s Tony Hawk's Gigantic Skatepark * Tour. For its third consecutive year, ESPN and Hawk have joined forces to produce the Tour that travels to 10 skateparks * across the country for demonstrations and stops along the way. The Tour kicks off June 23 and runs through July 27, which will provide eight original hours of programming to air on ESPN2 * beginning July 29.

Skateboard legend Tony Hawk leads the tour and takes along a crew of fellow action sports athletes from the skateboard and BMX world that will perform at 10 free demonstrations across the country. The Tour, which is broken up into two legs, launches on June 23 in Houston *, Tex., travels to the East Coast, across the Midwest and concludes on July 26 in San Diego *, Calif.

The Tour travels the US in a tour bus that makes additional stops along the way to visit points of interest and to check out other skateboard locales in the country. Athletes include skateboarders Bucky Lasek *, Eric Koston *, Mike Vallely *, Shaun White, Alex Chalmers *, Kerry Getz * and Jesse Fritsch *; and, BMX riders Dave Mirra *, Mike "Rooftop" Escamilla and Rick Thorne. Additional guest athletes will join the group along the way.

Eight original hours of programming document the skatepark demos, stories from the road and the exciting lifestyle that surrounds action sports. The Tour will be televised on ESPN2 beginning July 29. The full telecast schedule can be found on expn *.com.

All demos, which are free to the public, are scheduled for afternoon times:

June 23            Southside Skatepark, Houston, TX

June 27            Kona Skatepark *, Jacksonville, FL

June 29            Hang Loose Skatepark, Cornelius, NC

July 1             Louisville Extreme Park, Louisville, KY

July 3             WARP Skatepark, Woodstock, IL

July 6             3rd Lair, Minneapolis, MN

July 18             Denver Skatepark, Denver, CO

July 21             Proving Grounds, Pleasant Grove, UT

July 24             Desert Breeze, Las Vegas *, NV

July 26             Encinitas YMCA, Carlsbad, CA

For Tour information, demo times and complete coverage please log on to www.expn.com. Media inquiries should be directed to www.espneventmedia.com.

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