If you’re an avid skateboarder living in Dalton, you likely know about of Sunday’s significance for the sport.

Since 2004, June 21 is an unofficial holiday known as “Go Skateboarding Day.” The brainchild of the International Association of Skateboard Com-panies makes skateboarding more publicly accessible and has re-ceived special congressional recognition since its inception.

To celebrate the day, the North Georgia Skateboard Center at 907 Gaston Street will kick off a 24-hour event that begins today at 9 p.m. and ends Sunday at 9 p.m. The only downtime will be from 3 a.m.-5 a.m., and that span will be filled with a variety of skateboard-related activities in different areas of the city.

“It’s like skateboarding Christmas,” said NGSC owner Loretta Scriven, whose shop has celebrated GSD since 2004. “We can skateboard anywhere. It’s a wonderful thing.”

Scriven said the event is still open for anyone who wants to participate, with admission $20 per person and that includes food and drink. Last year’s event drew 100 people to NGSC, and with June 21 falling on Father’s Day this year, Scriven is hoping for an even larger turnout.

“We have eight father-son skate teams here in Dalton,” Scriven said. “It will be really cool to get them together.”

Today, NGSC will be open during its normal business hours of from noon to 9 p.m. Beginning at 5 p.m., there will be a skate competition to determine the winners of a week in the Grand Cayman Islands for a skate camp conducted by Brian Sumner of Reliance Skate Team. The top two skaters of the competition win the trip.

When the competition wraps up at 9 p.m., instead of closing the shop will launch its GSD activities, starting with a ramp and rails competition that lasts until midnight. There will also be a cookout and campfire in that same time frame.

From midnight to 3 a.m., there will be an activity known as “skate charades,” where participants act out a professional skater and the crowd guesses which skater the contestant is impersonateing.

Two hours later, the group will skate to Hardee’s for breakfast. From there, they’ll skate to Rock Bridge Com-munity Church and meet up with the dads for more celebration. They will also attend an early church service.

“The reason we chose Rock Bridge is they’ll let us skate there,” Scriven said. “We’ve attended services there in the past and its casual. It’s an upbeat place for teens and real progressive.”

Following service, they’ll skate to the hockey rink at Lakeshore Park for another competition that lasts until lunch. From noon to 2 p.m., there will be live music and a cookout, followed by a half-pipe contest before returning to NGSC. From 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. an open house is slated for guests. That will be followed by a premiere video for Zoo York Skate Team, which was released across the country just for GSD.

After prizes are awarded, skaters will end the day by skating home.

Scriven said he event is designed for fun, but safety is a top priority.

“I look at it like a truck driver going across the country,” Scriven said. “You have to make allowances for that. Safety is first and utmost, and when you do something like this (a 24-hour event), you have to be more aware. I want everyone to be safe and have a good time.”