June 20, 2016 was a great day to hop in the ocean. We take that back, every day is a great day to hop in the ocean but the 20th was the day to hop in. Back in 2004, International Surfing Day was established on the summer solstice, to kick off the season and remind people how great the ocean is — #TeamDryLand be damned. Every year, events are thrown worldwide and international stoke abounds.
Beyond just paddling out and catching a few, most of the events, largely fronted by the Surfrider Foundation, were held to clean up trash and remind people about the importance of our beaches. Laying claim to nearly one million participants over the last decade, International Surfing Day has been called “the largest global activation on the planet” with more than 200 Surfrider events in more than 30 countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Argentina and Japan. There are already more than 90 separate events in the United States alone, with new guerrilla celebrations popping up every year.
This year, Surfing Day went off without a hitch, and if nothing else, people have been reminded how incredible our aquatic world is. You may have missed the day but that doesn’t mean you have to miss the message. Go chill on the beach and bodysurf a few. If you’re landlocked, you can read a good surf yarn, then book yourself a trip.
You don’t have to be a surfer to look forward to International Surfing Day, you just need to appreciate our (mostly blue) planet.
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