BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Crews dumped 300 tons of snow on City Hall Plaza this week in preparation for the Red Bull Heavy Metal snowboarding competition on Saturday.
Thirty six snowboarders from around the country will compete and thousands of spectators are expected to watch, said organizer Oren Tanzer, president of Frankie Bird Production Company.
"There's going to be a lot of people here and we're planning for more people," Tanzer said.
Among the riders to compete on Saturday are several X-Games competitors and local snowboarders, including Jake Aaronson of Needham, Mass. and Callen Hwang of Rye, N.H.
The competition will feature three "zones" spanning across City Hall Plaza. Each zone will have its own course where riders will compete for prizes up to $2,500. The top overall male and female riders across all zones will win the jackpot prizes: $4,500, new snowboards and bragging rights as Boston's first Red Bull Heavy Metal champions.
Tanzer said organizers picked City Hall Plaza to host the event because of its unique architecture, including the "iconic" staircase leading to Concord Street, which will feature prominently in Zone 3.
Along with the competition, the event will also include food trucks and refreshments. Gates will open at 2 p.m. Saturday on City Hall Plaza. The competition will start at 2:30 p.m. and is scheduled to run until 5:30 p.m.
WBZ NewsRadio's Emma Friedman (@EmmaFriedmanWBZ) reports.