A wave of excitement is building for the 30th anniversary of the Noosa Festival of Surfing.
This year’s edition will again be held at iconic First Point from May 15-23.
Organisers say the festival has evolved over the years to become “more than just a surf event”.
“There is lots of environmental awareness, with the Noosa World Surfing Reserve, it’s a charity type event with SurfAid on board, there are art shows, we’ve got live music and we hold events at the venues of local businesses,” co-organiser Josh Allen said.
“It’s a very inclusive event.”
The nine-day carnival is traditionally held in late February, but this year’s event was pushed back to May, because of COVID-19.
International visitors usually make up 25% of the 600 participants.
While they aren’t expected in numbers due to travel restrictions, droves of Australians are set to take part.
“We’re pretty confident we’ll have a successful event,” Mr Allen said.
“The festival has always been in demand and we’re confident we’ll fill all the spots with local and inter-state people.
“We’ve had people in the past miss out on spots because they haven’t been fast enough to enter, so they will get more opportunity this year.”
Entries opened last week for a slew of longboard and shortboard divisions.
New division
The event is renowned for attracting stylish longboarders.
“First Point is probably the most iconic longboarding wave in Australia, if not the world,” Mr Allen said.
A twin-fin division will be introduced this year.
“There will be a lot of local shortboard surfers who are fairly well known who will be invited to it,” Mr Allen said. “We’re hoping to create a bit of atmosphere around that event.”
“A lot of longboarders also ride shortboards.
“And I think twin fins are on a comeback, after being very popular in the 60s to 80s.
“Although First Point is one the best longboarding waves, it’s also good for shortboarders on its day and twin fins in particular.”
The longboard world tour season-opening event was held in conjunction with the festival last year but that won’t be the case this year, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
“But when things are back to normal, I’m sure they (World Surf League) will look to jump back in again and Noosa will be at the forefront of their mind.”
Storied history
The festival started in 1992 when the Noosa Malibu Club ran the Noosa Malibu Classic.
“It was pretty much a surfing event, but over the years there has been more international interest in the event and there has been a lot of momentum gained with the surfing reserve and environmental awareness, and all the surf culture that makes it such a spectacle,” Mr Allen said.
“Essentially every year now it’s a celebration of more than surfing.”
“It’s a holistic way of looking at surfing, a holistic way of being involved in a cultural event around surfing.
“The general vibe the event creates over 9 or 10 days has people marking it in their diary.
“And although we have pushed it back to May, there’s still lots of accommodation being booked and restaurants being booked, so it’s a popular event.”
The event took its first real stride in 1994 when club member Jamie Pradella filmed it, attracting more surfers the following years, including long and short board surfers.
The festival expanded in many ways, via different organisers and sponsors, with local surf guru Phil Jarratt returning to the helm most recently from 2009 to 2019, incorporating the iconic dog surfing division.
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World Surfaris took over the running of the event in 2019, after Mr Jarratt scaled back his support mainly due to increasing costs.
The event was in limbo for months, before World Surfaris announced their arrival.
“It was in danger of being removed from the (Noosa) council events,” Mr Allen said.
“We came in at the final hour and somewhat saved it.
“We pulled off a pretty successful event that year despite the impact of Cyclone Oma, which washed away much of the beach.
“We’ve learned a lot from our first couple of years and have a whole swag of initiatives.
“We’re always trying to make the festival sustainable and highly engaging.”
Protected waves
The event’s link with the surfing reserve is important.
The waters off Noosa National Park, including First Point, were officially announced as a world surfing reserve in 2020.
The waves there are essentially a protected natural area.
“I met with Phil the other day to talk about how the reserve can be more involved (with the festival) and how we can educate the locals and the inter-state visitors about what the surfing reserve means to surfers and to the community,” Mr Allen said.
“Phil has done a fantastic job getting the festival to the point it’s at now and we’re trying to continue the legacy he created.”
Noosa Malibu Club continue to hold the event rights, while Heads of Noosa Brewing Co. will be the major sponsor at this year’s event, which runs from May 15-23.
