FISE, an acronym for International Festival of Extreme Sports, was created in 1997 by Hervé André-Benoit and now welcomes thousands of fans each year to the banks of the River Lez here in Montpellier.

It has built a reputation as one of the most important events in sports such as BMX freestyle, skateboarding, and breaking – which are all set to feature in next year's Olympic Games.

The rapid growth of the event has led to "urban sports becoming part and parcel of everyday life in the city" according to Hart.

Hart's sentiments indicate how much FISE has become part of Montpellier's identity which she is proud of but it leads to leaders of other city's doubting if they can replicate the success.

"People say the FISE has been almost honed or crafted to Montpellier, which is true to a certain extent," she said at the Urban Sports Summit in Montpellier's City Hall, which is running in parallel with FISE.

"This is what we try to say when we go out to talk to other cities across the world which all have their own different specificities.

"We try to explain that it all fits in like a puzzle and that you can do it, you can put a FISE in any big city if you are audacious enough to do it.

"You have to allow your city to completely transform itself over a certain number of days and be okay with that.

"That's probably one factor for success – being audacious, brave, courageous and allow your city to be overrun by young people which not every is willing to accept that."

FISE has gone from welcoming 25,000 to 600,000 people over the course of 25 years

While the growth has changed perceptions of skaters and BMX riders for the good, the festival still has its critics.

In order to continue in its upward trajectory, Hart insists opening dialogue with those against it is paramount for its maintenance.

"There are people that aren't too happy about the noise, the music, the roads being closed and just simply the fact that we have changed their comfort for a few days," Hart said.

"What we have to do is we have to get out and talk to those people.

"We have to explain what is going to happen, we have to organise meetings and answer all of their questions and that is what do every year.

"Every year, six months in advance of FISE, we sit down with these people and we talk to them.

"We have the FISE team with us, we have mobility team with us, we have our waste refusal team with us as well, everybody is there to answer their questions.

"You are always going to get those who are grumpy about it. 

"At the end of the day, we do bring those people round.

"We can explain to those people why it is in the interest of the city and it is really interesting to notice who comes to the FISE.

"A big majority of young people obviously but there are also a lot of parents there with their kids, there are different generations.

"In the old days, we didn't see too many elderly people but today they are coming and that's because little by little we have all worked together to get the message across to people.

"It's a re-appropriation of urban space for one and all."

FISE begins today and is set to run until Sunday (May 21) with Olympic sports such as BMX freestyle, skateboarding, and soon to be breaking contested in addition to parkour, BMX flatland, scooter, and roller freestyle.