Opinions, Surf cultureInternational Surfing Day 

Tomorrow, June 20th, is “International Surfing Day”. Falling on or close to the summer solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere, International Surfing Day is a bit of a Hallmark Day dreamt up by the folks at Surfing Magazine and the Surfrider Foundation back in 2004 which has grown year on year and is now celebrated in over thirty countries. It’s a day for us surfers to take stock of how lucky we are, to celebrate surfing and to give a little something back. Surfing is celebrated through local surf contests, beach clean events, barbeques, film screenings and free surf lessons, with over two hundred events taking place each year. It’s fair to say that we should be celebrating surfing and be thankful for it every day, but perhaps sometimes it just becomes a bit “normal” (particularly to regular surfers who live near the ocean) and people become numb to it, so it’s no bad thing to take a day and really think about – to remind ourselves of just how good surfing really is and how important it is to us.

What would you be, where would you be, and who would you be without surfing in your life?

So, on Saturday, take a moment to enjoy surfing. Get in the sea and catch a few waves if you’re able to, be it on a shortboard, longboard, squishy board, without a board, with a paddle, whatever; however you harness the Ocean’s energy to move you back towards shore just head out there and celebrate it. And, on your way back up the beach, pick up any trash that you see and stick it in a bin so that the Oceans remain nice for everybody else to enjoy too.

If you’re interested in finding out if there is an event taking place near you then head over to Surfrider Foundations ISD microsite where you can find an event, create and register an event, or make a donation to support Surfrider’s mission. Click here.

Thank you, surfing.