Imagine Getting Coned All Day And Then Properly Hydrating Yourself Late Into The Night

Southwest France is arguably the best place in the world for a surfer to be in late September. 

I suppose you could go to Fiji if you’re rich and/or want to win the 2025 WSL World Title. Or Central America if you want lineups that are significantly less busy than they were two months prior. Or even late-ish season Indo if you have a commercial driver’s license and want to give back to the community by helping them bulldoze Uluwatu. 

But I would wager that you’d extract more joy out of your fleeting time on this planet (you’re not getting any younger) if you instead choose the liberté, égalité and fraternité of France. 

Tubes. Light, if any, neoprene in the water. Light, if any, clothing on the beach. Sandbars so good they mimic point breaks, which prove to be incredibly rippable when not busy being square. The food. The wine. The way the autumn sky looks in the late evening when you’ve come in from a surf. 

Ahhhhhhhhhhh. 

Now here’s a good excuse for you: The Quiksilver Festival, presented by Swatch, is coming back for its second edition from September 21-29 this year. 

After over a decade of Quik being gracious enough to assemble an apero platter and host a CT event in the fall, the widely beloved (lol) new Finals format made the annual sojourn impossible. And so they pivoted — first by sponsoring a CS, and then by organizing their own surf festival for the first time last year. 

And what a fucking hit that was. 

The waves pumped, as the Atlantic tends to do in late September. Everyone from Noa Deane to Clay Marzo to Coco Ho came to compete. And, on the sidelines, Steph Gilmore and the freshly crowned ‘23 World Champ Caroline Marks showed up, despite not being able to compete. Even Dane was seen kicking around. Told ya it’s the place to be in late September. 

Once again, the format will be decidedly non-Woz. Jeremy Flores will hand-pick 24 surfers, who’ll be sliced into 12 teams of two. The event has a 10-day window, but only requires four run days. The conditions will dictate the format, as comp director/Hossegor local/former CT surfer/Euro Lord Miky Picon will throw categories like best turn, best tube, best air, and best combo at the teams. 

So far, the list of surfers confirmed includes Clay Marzo, Coco Ho, Josh and Sierra Kerr, and Kelly Slater who, in Fiji, became the world’s best free surfer.

Just like last year, there’ll be an excuse to go out and paint the town red (and perhaps white and blue to match the flag) every single night. Music. Parties. Film premieres. And general good fucking times. Scope the agenda here.  

Things will be lean and mobile (see: core), so there won’t be a webcast. But Baguette TV will be back, and we’ll have daily reports here on Stab. 

See you there.