An extreme-sports event that kicked off on Thursday in Shanghai has expanded consumption scenarios around the sports, offering visitors fresh experiences with diverse business formats.
Officially known as the 2025 International Festival of Extreme Sports (FISE) World Series, this year's event features a 70,000-square-meter urban sports carnival, with multiple themed zones including outdoor equipment, esports, and pet leisure, appealing to a wider audience.
This year's extreme sports competitions feature a new random speed climbing open event that uses innovative routes to test athletes' explosive power and adaptability.
"I came to participate in this speed climbing competition. I think the venue is excellent, and the atmosphere here is great. There are also many other competitions happening nearby, which looks very interesting," said Zheng Zhixuan, a speed climbing participant.
Outside of competition hours, the 14-meter-high climbing wall is open to all spectators free of charge, with professional coaches on hand to give beginners a taste of climbing.
Furthermore, by wearing augmented reality (AR) glasses and wristband sensors, players can control virtual energy balls and shields through physical movement in the real world to battle each other in real time. The physical esports zone also attracted significant attention from attendees.
"Its advantage sets it apart from traditional esports, where you only use your hands and keyboard to move. Here, you have to move your whole body, dodge and strike while on the go, so it demands high physical fitness. As traditional esports evolve, a new product like this is needed; I believe it's a very promising sport," said Bai Jing, an AR sports competition coach.
Beyond sports activities, the event also featured competitive gaming, food and beverages, trendy markets, and a pet paradise, attracting over 220 brand exhibitors. This has created a complete "sports plus lifestyle" consumption ecosystem.
"We promote sports for everyone. The whole urban sports carnival of FISE is open to pets and children; we even have designated pet-viewing areas next to the courses. Many of our merchandise is pet-themed, look at the gear I'm wearing, printed with my own dog's photo. Visitors can get live printing of their pet's picture on-site," said He Ting, head of the FISE pet zone at the urban sports carnival.
"My child skateboards, so we came for the atmosphere. I think it's a comprehensive event that lets children to learn about not just skateboarding within the venue, but also brands of skateboarding and other extreme sports. It allows everyone to explore multiple interests, not just limiting themselves to bicycle motocross if they like that, or only focusing on skateboarding if they prefer that, but to gain exposure to various sports," said Wu, a tourist.
The event ran from Thursday to Sunday in Binjiang of Shanghai's Xuhui District, attracting over 700 athletes from 34 countries and regions to compete across 13 top-tier events in six major categories.
Shanghai's global extreme sports event promotes consumption
