VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Jackalope Festival has been in full swing in Virginia Beach all weekend, and as part of the action-packed event, professional skateboarding legend Tony Hawk stopped by for the Vert Showdown.
"It's always fun to be here because there's this strong skate legacy here that endures," Hawk told 13News Now.
His presence brought out generations of fans.
"I've been a Tony Hawk fan since I was probably younger than them," said one woman, pointing to her kids.
"We came to see Tony Hawk!" a father and son said in unison.
This is my first time seeing him," said the son. "I have his game: "Tony Hawk - Pro Skater."
"I wanted to have him sign this 1983 original Tony Hawk Mini, another fan told us. "That's been the childhood dream - to meet Tony Hawk, and today, that dream came true," he said.
Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer even made an appearance at the skate legend's event. "Welcome to Virginia Beach," he told Hawk, shaking his hand.
"I think it's great for all of our sports," Hawk said about the Jackalope Festival. "It's a great venue, great concept - bringing everyone together. It's like early X Games, but without such a heavy competition factor and more of a celebration."
"What started with an idea has now become real," said Taylor Adams, Deputy City Manager for Economic Development and Tourism in Virginia Beach.
"What we loved about this from the beginning is skate and surf are so authentically Virginia Beach. I mean to know that Tony skated here in the 80s and is now back here. And now there's a vert ramp on the beach. I never thought we'd see it, but it's a cool thing for the community," he said.
Known for being humble, Tony Hawk told us: "First of all, it's a huge honor that people would come out the woodwork to see some old vert skater, but more the contemporaries - the ones that I'm skating with - I think that they're gonna be more excited to see that, honestly," he told us.
"At this point I'm just trying to enjoy the ride and just kind of play the hits and have fun skating, because I feel like this i -s a very special moment in time - skating where it's come so far I really feel like it's here to stay," Hawk said.