The 3-day Byron Bay Surf Festival ended on Sunday with picture perfect waves at Wategos and more women participating in events than ever before.
Dubbed the Freestyle & Stoke Surf Sessions, Sunday was the festival’s final get together for all the surfers, shapers, board and body surf enthusiasts that have been celebrating surf culture and community all weekend.
Photos; Top; Sarah West, Bottom Left and Right; Jérémie Perreault
The Sunday had a schedule of various non-competitive events based on artistic interpretation and style. Surfers were voted by their peers with advantage awarded to those having the most flare, fun and jazz in the water.
Photos; Sarah West
The flagship event, the McTavish Trim, saw surfers compete on boards 10ft+, with the winner determined by whoever goes furthest distance up the beach.
Long time local surf pioneer Bob McTavish of McTavish Surfboards said this was the first time he had brought the well-known event to Byron Bay and was beyond excited with the turnout and conditions.
“What an unbelievable day. Being here at the festival reminds us all just how much fun surfing together can be. We are all larking about in the waves laughing, sliding, cheering and catching up with friends from far and wide. We are so thrilled to be a part of the Byron Bay Surf Festival. It’s bringing together the surf community, old and new and it’s just fantastic,” said McTavish.
Photos; Top Left, Middle & Bottom Left- Sarah West & Top Right, Bottom Right- Andrea Falletta
Festival founder James McMillan estimated probably 2000 people visited Wategos throughout the day, whether to set up camp on the sand in the sunshine or lie under the trees, they cheered and hooted on their favourite surf stars and local friends who were putting on a world class freestyle surf show.
“It was an epic day,” said McMillan. “When you look at the waves and the weather plus the level of surfers that attended this was by far the best freestyle & stoke sessions we’ve ever had. The magic of nature and creation was plain to see. The crew were both shredding and cruising and the crowd erupted when the dolphins made a star appearance on the waves with our sliders.”
Photos; Andrea Falletta
“I’d like to thank everyone who came out and especially Bob McTavish and Tom Wegener because those guys really bring so much energy along with their history, knowledge and culture and apart from being such good surfers, they just create such an amazing atmosphere,” said McMillan.
“I’d also like to thank so many girls for coming down. It was so good to have so many girls enter the freestyle & stoke surf sessions. Both the McTavish Trim and the F&S log session had women participate for the first time and we had so many lady sliders in our Mermaids Sessions, that we had to run 2 sessions with 12 in each,” said McMillan.
Photos; Sarah West
Here are the results from the day:
Torpedos – Timmy Carroll
Mermaids – Maria Nilsson
Fish – Ozzie Wright
Finless – Gus O’Malley
Logs – Jarred Mell
Best Pure Stoke Move – A gurfer named Brielle for her epic sliding headstand
Party Wave $1000 Prize Pack Winner – Isaac Fields
Photos; Sarah West
