Skateboarding Prodigy To Serve As OC Baby Parade Grand Marshal

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Sky Brown has the chance to make the 2020 Summer Olympics, but first the 10-year-old skateboarding and surfing prodigy will stop in Ocean City. Brown will serve as Grand Marshal in the Baby Parade on Aug. 9 and host an event at the skatepark later that day.

Brown was named to the five-person British skateboard team in March. If the team qualifies for the 2020 Olympics — when skateboarding makes its Olympic debut — Brown would become Britain's youngest ever Olympian at 12 years old.

She's racked up social media popularity, with over 377,000 Instagram followers. Watch her in action below:

Ocean City Council will vote Thursday to award Abrams Artist Agency and Sky Brown Inc. a $20,000 contract. The decision is considered routine in measure and is expected to be enacted by one motion.

City Public Information Officer Doug Bergen told Patch that taxpayer dollars will not fund Brown's appearance.

"Fees for performers and celebrity guests generally do not come out of the city budget," Bergen told Patch via email. "Concerts, celebrities, races and events are funded by revenue from other concerts, celebrities, races and events. These revenues and expenses are all part of the city’s Recreation Trust Fund. The Rec Trust Fund balance is stable from year to year. Some events are not money-makers. Others are. And on balance at the end of every year, revenues and expenses are equal."

Brown's day will also feature a meet and greet from noon to 1 p.m. at the Ocean City Music Pier, a half-hour skateboard demo at 5 p.m., and an autograph and picture session from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

The ticketed meet and greet and skate demo will hold 125 people at 30 per person. Registration has not been made available, but details were laid out on page 4 of the Ocean City Council agenda packet for June 13.

The agreement also features the following expectations for Brown, according to the Department of Community Services:

• feature an active presence on Sky's social media during events (Instagram stories)
• Vlog about Ocean City's skating and surfing
• if time, weather and conditions allow, the City would love for Sky to check out surfing on Ocean City beaches

"The promotion of Ocean City on her social media accounts is a great opportunity to attract new families to our town," Director of Community Services Michael Allegretto said in a May 21 memo. "These post (sic) will get more reach and frequency than a TV ad."

The 110th annual Ocean City Baby Parade takes place at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 8. Entries are open for bands, dance groups, cheer squads, special guests, community groups and businesses to participate. Click here for an application.

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