Surf and skateboarding culture celebrated at festival in Newquay

THE surf and skateboarding culture was celebrated at a festival staged in Newquay over the weekend, which attracted people from around the world.

More than 12,000 attended the UK Surf & Skate Expo at Newquay Sports Centre, which featured everything from talks, big- name athletes to the inaugural European Film Festival.

Stars including American professional free surfer Dylan Graves, Swedish surfers Tim Latte, and Freddie Meadows, big wave surfers Laura Crane and Andrew Cotton, plus Olympic skateboarder Lucy Adams attended the event to give talks, screen movies and meet fans.

The Expo kicked off with the Wavelength UK Surfer Awards, where Lukas Skinner won best surfer male and Lucy Campbell took home the best surfer female award. Laura Crane won the big wave surfer female award. She gave an emotional speech saying: “This is for anyone who was told they shouldn't do something. Stay true to your authentic self.”

The Expo Village was packed with attendees, trying out the nanuskate ramp, a new modular ramp designed to be set-up anywhere it's flat. There were talks on the Expo Hall stage, presented by YETI and the XTRATUF Tales From The Frontier Stage. TR7 Skate hosted a variety of competitions, giving away £1,000 in prize money.

Clothing brand Passenger's converted school bus Little Firswas popular, the Patagonia team offering free wetsuit repairs while 10 Over Surf Shop hosting a support your local surf shop campaign.

Lisa Douglas from Patagonia said: “We had some fantastic conversations with people, especially around those who care for their local community and planet. The Expo was a great place to bring together like-minded people.”

The Expo Hall was transformed into the inaugural European Surf Film Festival presented by Reef, screening a mix of local and European movies. Iconic surf filmmaker Morgan Maassen flew in from California to be a part of question and answer session with Freddie Meadows, showing their film Ran: A Scandinavian Surf Saga. He said: “You may think we have events like this in California all the time – but we don't. To see this in the UK is absolutely incredible and it's clear the surf scene is thriving.”

Rising Tide Festival joined the UK Surf & Skate Expo with inspiring talks from brands with eco at the forefront of their minds, which took place at Newquay Orchard.

Saltrock hosted its Vintage Surf Classic, a surf event with retro surfboards, which was won by Newquay surfer Alan Stokes.

Expo director, Chris Thomson, said: “This was a very special event for us and bigger and better than last year. We're so pleased everyone had a great time. Thank you to everyone who came down, the speakers, the surfers, the skaters and anyone who just wanted to check it out. We're already making big plans for next year.”