Surf Del Mar Festival is a free, four-day celebration of Southern California surf culture presented by the Del Mar Historical Society across six walkable Del Mar venues. It opens Thursday with a surfing-and-sustainability symposium at St. Peter’s Parish Hall, a surf-art walk at Del Mar Plaza and a multigenerational surfers meet-and-greet, live music and Legends & Champions ceremony honoring figures including Linda Benson, Shaun Tomson, Rob Machado, Joel Tudor, Debbie Beacham, Tony Hawk and Jeff Divine. Friday is built around a day of short surf films and the 50th-anniversary screening of Bustin’ Down the Door followed by a Shaun Tomson Q&A, plus an open party with Tower 7 at En Fuego. Saturday’s main reunion fills Powerhouse Park with surf stories and live music; nearby programming adds a limited-seat Surfwriter’s Book Fair, a woody-wagon parade and display, and an outdoor dusk screening of The Endless Summer. Sunday closes with more author and photographer talks, a student art walk and the Women on Waves program celebrating women whose lives and work are shaped by the ocean. The organizer states that every festival event is free and open to the public; food and drinks at the En Fuego party are on attendees’ own tabs, and Camino Books says seats for individual author discussions are limited and can be reserved by pre-ordering the featured books. No surf contest, in-water session, athlete registration, livestream or general-admission ticket is announced. Del Mar is about 100 miles south of downtown Los Angeles and is included as a major regional surf-history gathering with an unusually deep program of films, talks, art, shaping stories and community access.

Del Mar Historical Society

The organizer explicitly welcomes residents, visitors, surfers, families and anyone who shares a love of the ocean. No surfing ability, club membership or athlete qualification is required.

Upcoming cultural festival. No judged surfing competition or results program is announced; the opening-night Legends & Champions segment is an honorary recognition ceremony, not a contest.

Upcoming Events from Del Mar Historical Society

Surf Del Mar Festival 2026