Some urban spaces are defined by their original purpose, while others find an entirely different identity through the people who reclaim them.
For the Skate PTG Association, skateboarding is about considerably more than sport. It is a source of shared experiences, creativity and connection, bringing people together through activities that encourage self-fulfilment and positive emotions.
The association has developed around that idea, organising sporting and cultural events, exhibitions and workshops, while also taking part in charity initiatives. It operates as a non-commercial organisation, supported through membership dues, assistance from Katowice City Hall and sponsors.
That community has its roots in a very particular place: the Mining Toil Monument, or PTG, in Katowice.
From ceremonial square to skateboarding landmark
Built in 1986 by the Katowice district authorities, the monument was originally a gathering place associated with miners and dignitaries. Its large granite square could accommodate substantial crowds during annual Miners' Day celebrations.
Political changes at the end of the 1980s altered the site's role. The large gatherings disappeared and the monument was gradually neglected, standing largely empty on the outskirts of the Paderewski Housing Estate in the Three Ponds Valley.
In the early 1990s, local skateboarders saw something different in the space.
The granite surfaces, open layout and architectural features offered possibilities for skating, and the monument quickly became a meeting place for pioneers of the Silesian skateboarding scene. Among those associated with the early days were Krzysiek "Kotas" Kotarba, the Sołtysik brothers, Łukasz Nowak and the Małodobrzy brothers.
As the community grew, skateboarders began creating their own obstacles using pipes and granite slabs. The site developed organically, shaped by the people who used it and by the culture forming around them.
What began as a local meeting place gradually drew skateboarders from across the voivodeship and eventually from around Poland. PTG became one of the recognised spots on the country's skateboarding map.
Its significance therefore comes not only from its physical characteristics, but from the way a new generation transformed their relationship with an existing urban space.
A culture that extends beyond the board
The Skate PTG Association continues that broader understanding of skateboarding. Its activities connect sport with exhibitions, workshops, music, cultural events and charitable work, reflecting a community in which skating becomes a starting point for wider creative and social activity.
That approach also informs PROCES Skate Event 2026, a three-day festival taking place in Katowice from 18 to 20 September.
Organised by Stowarzyszenie Skate PTG and Katowice GZM 2027, the event will explore skateboarding as both a sport and a distinctive way of experiencing urban spaces. Its programme brings together skateboarding culture, art, music, photography and film.
The festival offers an opportunity to look at skateboarding through the wider culture that has developed around it. In Katowice, that story is particularly connected to the place. The PTG monument demonstrates how an urban space can acquire a completely new meaning when a community begins to use it in an unexpected way.
For the people behind Skate PTG, the value of that experience lies in sharing it. Their association remains open to people who want to contribute ideas, take action or simply share their passion, continuing a community that began around a once-forgotten corner of the city.
PROCES 2026 becomes part of that ongoing story, bringing together the sporting and cultural sides of skateboarding and showing how a practice once associated with an overlooked monument can become part of the identity of a place.
Visitor Information
Event: PROCES Skate Event 2026
Dates: September 18–20, 2026
Location: Katowice
