Art by Brodie Jackson
Hey BBSF friends! Our beloved festival is drawing closer and we are working feverishly behind the scenes to make sure our events are the best yet. We have planned many exciting unique happenings which are jam-packed into the weekend of Feb 24-26. To make it easier on your end, we’ve created a ‘One-Stop-Shop Events Guide’ explaining where you need to be, what time you need to be there and what you can expect!
FREE EVENTS
There are a bunch of free, family-friendly and fun events for you and the gang to enjoy:
FRIDAY FEB 24:
ART SHOW – SURF CULTURE NOW
Where you need to be: Lone Goat Gallery at the Byron Bay Library
What time: 5:30-7pm
Exciting deets: An international and locally curated lineup of artists from Australia and California featuring art by Andy Davis (US), Brodie Jackson, Otis Carey, Ozzie Wright, Tyler Warren (US), James McMillan, Nanda Ormond, Matt Yeates, Paul McNeil, Mahala Maggins, Kei Otsuka (JPN), Josh Rufford along with photographers, Hayden Richards (aka @sa_rips) and Byron local Ming Nomchong. This highly influential gathering of artists will be showing original works and offerings from their latest collections.
SUNSET CINEMA – ‘GIVEN’ SCREENING
Where you need to be: Byron Bay Foreshore – Denning Park
What time: Start time of 7pm. We recommend coming earlier to snag a good spot and enjoy some delicious market food beforehand.
Exciting deets: This is the Australian movie Premiere of ‘Given’, starring Aamion Goodwin and family. Opening with a traditional welcome to country blessing from the Arakwal mob, followed by a solo performance by Hawaiian singer/songwriter Paula Fuga, the screening of Stone & Wood’s ‘The Way It Should Be’, a short film featuring Dave Rastovich about the process of brewing this years’ official BBSF x Stone & Wood beer collab and culminating with the BBSF 2017 selected Feature Film brought to us by Hurley. Bring your picnic blankets and kids!
VISIT THE WEBSITE HERE
INSTAGRAM
FACEBOOK
OPENING NIGHT AFTER PARTY
Where you need to be: The Beach Hotel (strictly 18+)
What time: 9-12pm
Exciting deets: Right after Sunset Cinema head over the road to kick off the weekend’s festivities with live music from our headliner act CARAVANA SUN in a decked out version of the famous Beachy.
CARAVANA SUN INSTAGRAM & FACEBOOK
SATURDAY FEB 25:
SURF ART MARKET & TIPI POP UPS
presented by SurfStitch
Where you need to be: Byron Bay Foreshore
What time: Yoga starts at 7:30am. Markets run 9am-4:30pm
Exciting deets: Brought to you by SurfStitch, the Byron Foreshore will come alive with markets, tipi pop-ups, shapers, yoga, artisans, films, presentations, live music and the Surf Literature Lounge. Local as well as international brands and businesses will join in, serving up experiences, products and design, as well as organic foods, fashion and beats to keep you groovin’ through the day!
SEE WHO IS COMING BY READING OUR NEWSLETTERS, ‘SHOPPER’S GUIDE TO THE SURF ART MARKET’ & ‘TIPI SNEAK PEAK’.
SHOPPER’S GUIDES: HERE, HERE & HERE.
TIPI GUIDE: HERE
LITERATURE LOUNGE
Where you need to be: Apex Park, Byron Foreshore
What time: 9:30am-5pm
Exciting deets: A free open air stage where you can join surfers, artisans, surf stars and iconic legends to listen, learn and participate in conversations about surf culture, on topics including writing, photography, storytelling and surfing.
Full Schedule:
9:30am Tom Wegener launches his new ‘Surf Artisans’ book
10:15am Shark marine habitat and the facts research tells us
11:00am Legends Rusty & Wayne Lynch tell us about 1970 Kauai, Hawaii
11:45am Mark ‘Mono’ Stuart world champion adaptive surfer relays his journey
12:30pm Bob McTavish interviews physio Ryan Huxley about surfing till old n’ grey
2:00pm Chairman Andrew McKinnon explains the World Surfing Reserves initiative
2:45pm Technological whizz kid shapers tune in on the history and future of surfboard design
3:30pm Californian surf journo Steve Barilotti holds an intimate interview with renowned Indo surf photographer Jason Childs about Indonesia
4:14pm Pro underwater cinematographers Clare Plueckhahn and Jesse Moyes explain the incredible task of shooting underwater wave scenes.
THE WOODSHED:
Where you need to be: Apex Park, Byron Foreshore
What time: 9am-4:30pm
Exciting deets: Australia’s largest gathering of Wooden surfboards and those that make them!! We’ve dedicated a special area of the Surf Art Markets to the wood sniffers. Chat with and hear from master shaper and designer Tom Wegener, along with Andy from Wooden Anchor, Bound by Sea, Nobby from Japan, Grant Newby and more. If you dig wood don’t miss this timber buffet, including workshops, demo’s and the latest and greatest in innovation and the design of wooden surfboards.
EVEN MORE FREE EVENTS
SUNDAY FEB 26:
FREESTYLE & STOKE SURF SESSIONS presented by Clif Bar
Where you need to be: Wategos Beach
What time: 8am-4:30pm
Exciting deets: On Sunday we invite you to take the shuttle bus or walk from town or Clarkes to take part in a day of fun and unique surfing sessions hosted at Australia’s most easterly point, Wategos Beach. Open to young and old, including categories of; finless, logs, mermaids, fish, torpedoes (bodysurfing), tandem, and for the first time BBSF host the Bob McTavish Trim! Unlike other surf festivals this is not a competitive day (aside from the Trim), it’s all about the pure stoke of freestyling your own creative way across the wave on a surf craft of your choice. We’ve also got some mates coming along to share the day with us. Keep an eye out for:
Robin Kegel (US)
Matt Chojnacki
Belinda Baggs
Harrison Roach
Maddie Gross
Joel Fitzgerald
Lauren Hill
Josh Hall (US)
Thomas Bexon
Jack Lynch
Matt Yeates
Eden Saul
David Rastovich
Crystal Thornburg-Homcy (HAW)
Jarred Mel (US)
Josie Prendergast
HUNTERS & COLLECTORS SHOW & DEMO
Where you need to be: Wategos Beach
What time: 8am-3pm
Exciting deets: Choose from an array of boards to peruse and demo during Sundays Surf Sessions Events. A mix of modern, collectables, handmade, art-driven and sustainably produced surf craft are on show from Australian, Japanese and Californian and shapers!
Shapers include:
Josh Hall
Joel Fitzgerald
Wooden Anchor
Chris Garrett
Jye Byrnes
Dead Kooks
Morning of the Earth
Thomas Surfboards
Matt Yeates
Nobby Wooden Surfcraft
FULL SCHEDULE:
7am Arrival & Registrations
8am-3pm Freestyle & Stoke surf sessions (free event – invite only)
8am-3pm Hunters & Collectors show and demo (paid vendors only)
8am-3pm Byron Bay Mal Club BBQ brekkie and lunch (proceeds to Mal club)
10am-3pm DJ Jaywalker beats and vibez
8-8:30am Torpedoes bodysurfing
8:30-9am Fish twin keel swallow
9:15-10:30am McTavish Trim 2 HEATS 10ft+ boards on longest ride
10:45-11:15am Finless any board – soft, hard or blow-up with no fins
11:15-11:45am Logs 9ft+ and single fins only
11:45-12:15pm Mermaids gals only session
12:15-1pm Tandem tandem surfing including beach workshop and demo
1-1:45pm McTavish Trim FINAL 10ft+ boards on longest ride
1:45-2:15pm Tom Wegener board evolution i’view and demo with 2 surfers
2:15-3pm Festival party wave (register before noon)
3-4pm Freestyle & Stoke awards and closing ceremony, including community paddle out
TICKETED EVENTS
SATURDAY FEB 25:
FILM SCREENING – ‘ISLAND EARTH’ BY CYRUS SUTTON
Where you need to be: Byron Bay Community Centre
What time: 12:15-1:45pm
Exciting deets: Island Earth is a rich tale of a young indigenous scientist’s struggle for truth between science and tradition as he enters an industry that many feel is threatening his homeland. It shows his complex journey through the corn fields of GMO companies to the loi patches of traditional Hawaiian elders reveals modern truths and ancient values that could save our future. Fundamentally, Island Earth is about agrowing movement of people who are fed up with an industrial agricultural system that is reliant upon fossil fuels and chemicals, and follows one of the most important discussions of our time.
TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE
ISLAND EARTH TRAILER
FACEBOOK
THE ACTIVIST’S TOOLKIT – PATAGONIA WORKSHOP
Where you need to be: Byron Bay Community Centre
What time: 2-3pm
Exciting deets: This event will feature a panel of activists sharing how they effectively campaign with local environmental and community groups and how these actions play an ever more important role in securing people’s freedoms and in the protection of wild places. This is an afternoon spent with some of Australia’s most leading global and grassroots activists, including Dave Rastovich, who will discuss what being an activist today means, and the skills and tools needed to run successful campaigns both big and small. All attendees will receive for free the “Tools for Grassroots Activists” book in which Patagonia has distilled the best wisdom and advice for any organisation or individual looking to run a campaign.
REIMAGINING THE SURF INDUSTRY – PANEL
Where you need to be: Byron Bay Community Centre
What time: 3:15-4:15pm
Exciting deets: This event will discuss what the future holds for the surfing community. To many, the simple act of going surfing and the multi-billion dollar surf industry that has sprung up around it are fundamentally at odds. With the surf industry in a time of change, a panel of surfers and entrepreneurs will discuss how the industry can better reflect what surfing is all about.
FILM SCREENING – ‘PEAR SHAPED’ BY LAUREN HILL
Where you need to be: Byron Bay Community Centre
What time: 4:30-5:30pm
Exciting deets: The world premier of ‘Pear Shaped!’ Surfer Lauren Hill will host the panel about her short film; a glimpse into the little absurdities from the everyday realities of being a woman in the water: from rogue tampon strings to the ever looming wardrobe malfunction. It’s an antidote to the hyper-sexualised, out-of-touch representation of our side of surfing, and a tip of the cap to those who shrug off the unique, and sometimes humiliating challenges, and choose to ride and slide anyway.
TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE
INSTAGRAM
FILM SCREENING – ‘SURFERS BLOOD’ BY PATRICK TREZ & SURF SHORTIES
Where you need to be: Byron Bay Community Centre
What time: 6-7:45pm
Exciting deets: Spend your Saturday evening enjoying a special screening of ‘Surfers’ Blood’ by Patrick Trefz which tells the universal story of true individuals that share deep bloodlines connected to the sea. Come and explore his love of surfing by watching him profile those who inspire him. From the old world fishing history of the rugged Basque Coast via oar and surfboard shaper Patxi Oliden, to the modern metropolis of San Francisco and the eccentric computer shapes of Apple fame designer Thomas Meyerhoffer.
Additionally, we will be screening the selection of our favourite 2017 surf shorties submissions! This collection of curated short films will delight the eye and minds of surfers, adventurers, environmentalists, artists, thinkers and ocean lovers.
SATURDAY FEB 25:
SATURDAY SLIDE – CONCERT & PARTY
presented by Stone and Wood
Where you need to be: The Beach Hotel
What time: 8pm-12:30am
Exciting deets: Presented by Stone & Wood and The Beach Hotel, Saturday Slide is the festivals flagship event! We have the beautiful and big voice of Hawaiian singer/songwriter Paula Fuga opening for popular local act Bobby Alu and amazing headliner, the legendary G.LOVE direct from the USA! G’s alternative blues and folksy hip-hopish surf vibes will get you movin’ and groovin’ the night away. Between sets watch Jack McCoy’s 25-year film anniversary, with clips from his groundbreaking surf films Bunyip Dreaming and The Green Iguana, featuring live music scores by Dave Rastovich, Terepai Richmond, Tim Baker, Kyle Slabb and Fletcher Pilon, and backed by The Band of Frequencies.
For all your accommodation needs visit byronbayaccom.net