The End Of The Beginning

After a week of celebrating and showcasing art, music, and surfing itself, the 2025 Solento Surf Festival took its final bow last night in the idyllic, surf-soaked town of Encinitas.

Moms, dads, dates, groms, and surfing’s elite mingled with filmmakers under and in front of La Paloma Theatre’s century-old marquee prior to the doors opening. 

Tickets sold out well in advance for the week’s grand finale, with Thursday and Friday’s playbills including a mixed variety of works, ranging from Wes Anderson-style docs to vintage eye-candy, as well as jam sessions by Jack Johnson and Rob Machado. The final night’s lineup included four noteworthy works: Snapt5; Blak Bear Surf Club’s Ride the Line; A special installment of Finders Keepers by Alex Kilauano featuring Tanner Gadauskas and one very memorable green Bonzer; and Going Home, a playfully poignant film by Anna Tedesco about trusting your senses and reveling in the human experience.

A live acoustic set by local duet The Lonesome Roses, paired with post-screening discussions with the films’ creators and stars, brought a one-of-one-like atmosphere to the event, offering a glimpse into the process, experience, and the stories behind each film. 

As signature yellow-cupped margaritas passed under the glittering shafts of light streaming from balcony to silver screen – all proceeds of which benefitted Surfrider Foundation – the enthusiasm from the burgeoning crowd was palpable. Now in its fifth year, the annual event, created by legendary filmmaker Taylor Steele, has clearly become what the surfing community needed in an otherwise fractured world.

Having built an empire out of telling stories from his own (and Benji Weatherly’s) back yard, Mr. Steele pioneered mainstream surf films and built the foundation for everything that followed. Since those early days, he’s evolved into an impresario, amplifying narratives from the broader spectrum of surfing. In an era of disposable media, he’s taken on the task of fighting the fleeting by uniting people – in theaters, together, IRL. 

After the final film was screened and the last panel question answered, theatre-goers trickled from the entrance and in the direction of the afterparty, where surely more stories were written.