The 2023 Wavescape Surf and Ocean Festival presented by Vans is set to grace the shores of Cape Town with a thought-provoking lineup of in-person events focused on ocean conservation, taking place across the Peninsula.
Also read: Cape Town paddler completes solo kayak crossing of Southern Atlantic Ocean
Over the course of three weeks, from 2 March until 24 March, Wavescape will showcase no less than 13 events.
These will include open-air film screenings hosted by The Galileo Open Air Cinema and others, beach cleanups, the Blue Oceans filmmaking workshop, the Slide Night evening of ocean talks, the Board Meeting family and board swap day, and the annual Wavescape Artboard Project, featuring an exhibition of artistic surfboards auctioned for ocean charities.
The festival coincides with Wavescape’s rebranding, which involves combining the original Wavescape website – with its quirky content and forecasting tools – with the festival event website. Festival Director Shani Judes stated that this will complete the final step for Wavescape to become a fully-fledged ocean media organization that serves its partners in the ocean space by providing ocean reportage that includes surfing stories and issues that challenge the ocean community.
Judes added, “Using our unique convergence between the authenticity of surfing and beach lifestyle, and the seriousness of ocean conservation, we really want to build powerful media advocacy tools for ocean minded entities to widen their reach to find new customers and custodians that protect and promote healthy oceans.”
The Wavescape Artboard Project is making a strong comeback with 10 unique surfboards that 10 South African artists are using as canvases for their creative expression. The auction for these artboards will be held on Wednesday, 22 March at Jack Black’s Taproom.
The talented artists participating in the project are Fhatuwani Mukheli, Marie-Louise Koen, Amy-Lee Tak, Dbongz, Justin Southey, Liberty Battson, Lee-ann Heath, Lucie de Moyencourt, Martin Lund, and Brett Murray.
Here is the lineup for 2023:
- Thursday 2 March: First Thursday activation – pop-up ocean exhibition and Mobile Podcast
- Tuesday 7 March: Outdoor screening with the Galileo open air cinema
- Wednesday 8 March – Film screening at the Bertha Movie House, isivivana Centre in Khayelitsha followed by an ocean excursion with the 9 Miles Project
- Thursday 9 March: Ocean Quiz Night at Jack Black’s Tap Room
- Tuesday 14 March: Artboard exhibition opens
- Wednesday 15 March: Slide Night, Centre for the Book
- Thursday 16 March: Beach Co-op Undersea clean up and ocean discussion, Fish Hoek Beach
- Saturday 18 March: The Board Meeting & Expo @Jack Black’s Tap Room
- Sunday 19 March: Morning Sunburnt Surf Club surf event
- Sunday 19 March: Evening Film night & Q&A curated by Sunburnt Surf Club at the Labia
- Monday 20 March: Blue Ocean’s Master Class with Wesgro (Invest SA)
- Tuesday 21 March: Kommetjie Film Screening
- Wednesday 22 March: ArtBoard Charity Auction @ Jack Black’s Tap Room
- Thursday 23 March: Spike Swell Course
- Saturday 25 March: Festival Closing night with VANS – Screening of Humanity Stoked followed by afterparty.
For more information on the 2023 Wavescape Surf and Ocean Festival, email [email protected]
Also read:
Picture: Wavescape / Facebook