The Almighty Quiksilver Festival Is Coming Back For A Third Year

If you don’t want to be in southwest France in September, you are either ill-informed or wrong. 

Sure, there might be other stretches of coastline to tuck into if you want to be around less humanity. But is humanity such a bad thing when it’s served in the form of the Quiksilver Festival? 

We think not. 

Quik just announced that they’re bringing their signature surf contest/beach party back for the third straight year. The event, which is based in Hossegor, France, features 24 surfers, split into twelve teams of two. Each surfer will have about 8x three-person heats, and they keep a score for their team each time they surf. Sometimes, there are themes — like airs, turns, combos, or twin-fins. Other times, it’s more “The waves look fun, just get out there.” In either case, if someone does something impressive, they’re probably going to receive a score regardless. At the end of the event, the team with the most points wins. 

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Simple, yeah? But it works. 

As a refresher, year one saw well-overhead waves that had no backs yet seemed intent on breaking someone else’s. The comp’s host, Jez Flores, took out his own event with the help of teammate Michel Bourez. The nightlife division saw heroic performances from just about the entire field. 

In year two, let’s just say the waves were a bit more performance-friendly. Not quite the conditions you dream of in France, but good surfing still prevailed. Local boys Joan Duru and Marc Lacomare took it out. Once again, though, all the music/parties/premieres/side events made it readily apparent that firing waves are really just a bonus at such an event.

What’s on this year? Quiksilver took the stance of not seeking to fix something that was indeed not broken. So, expect more of the same. Which is, more surfing. More music. More parties. More art. More fun. 

The dates are September 20 – 28. The competitor’s list and agenda are still taking shape, and we’ll keep you posted as they come in. For now, save the dates, call your friends, and book whatever flight/train/5000km silent spiritual walk it’ll take to get ya there.