What is the Encounter?

Offering Duluth Minnesota’s only indoor skateboard park, all age music venues, and other activities, the Encounter, conveniently located in downtown Duluth, offers the youth of the twin ports community fun and engaging programs fostered within a positive environment. Indoor Skateboard Park Like to skate? The Encounter has the only skateboard park in Duluth. Remodeled in 2009 with new ramps to suit all skill levels, we welcome skaters, rollerbladers, and BMX bikers in our park. All Age Music Venues At the Encounter, we think live music concerts in Duluth should be enjoyed by all ages! Two music venues ensure that all musicians, big or small, have an opportunity to share their talent with the youth of our community. The Red Room features live, local music, & The Main Stage features nationally touring artists. Gym ActivitiesIf you’re looking to get active, we have a wide variety of gym activities such as an open gym style night, including basketball, volleyball and billiards. Come have some fun and get to know other youth in your community! Planning Your Wedding Reception or Event in Duluth? The Encounter offers a variety of spaces and amenities to suit your needs for your next event. Wedding receptions, community education classes, and smaller, more intimate gatherings are hosted often by the Encounter. Check out our Duluth event venue page and contact us today to see how we can help make your next gathering special.

What is the Encounter?

We get this question a lot, and we love sharing the answer! In one word, the Encounter is about relationships. To help you understand the "what", we really have to start with the "why". At the Encounter, we love young people. We think they are among the most important people on the planet. They aren't just the future, they are the now. Everything that we do is with the goal of building meaningful and empowering relationships with these young people. We believe it is through relationship that we can best address and serve the needs that they are facing. We are compelled by our faith in God, and our belief that He created each and every young person with a specific and special purpose for life. Each and every one matters to Him, and therefore to us.

We've designed the Encounter to be a place where young people want to spend time. We've engineered programs that give them opportunities to explore their interests and develop their talents. We've recruited people who love and care about them to spend time investing in their lives - all with the hope that these relationships will spur them on into success and growth for their lives. We want to see a generation of young people actively making a difference in the lives of their friends and in the world around them.

As we've said - the reason we do what we do is because we are driven by our faith. We have found the Christian faith to be life-changing and central to who we are and how we live our lives. As such, we spend time talking about matters of faith here, and we encourage young people to explore it and ask questions for themselves. We work really hard to do this in a way that is respectful and relational. No part of our faith programming is ever forced on young people, and a young person is free to participate in all aspects of our programming regardless of their religious affiliation.

Hopefully this gives you a quick glimpse into who we are and why we do what we do. Want to learn more? Feel free to give us a call or stop by and ask for a tour anytime. Sound like something you want to support? We receive over 75% of our funding from individuals, churches and businesses who believe in what we do. We'd value your consideration in this regard. Please contact our Executive Director - Ryan Underwood at 218-722-9820 ext. 11 to discuss some ways you can partner with us.