Surf Del Mar Festival 2026

About this event

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. Thursday now opens at 10:00 AM with a five-speaker Surfing and Sustainability Climate Symposium at St. Peter's Parish Hall, alongside a surf-art walk at Del Mar Plaza and an afternoon surfers meet-and-greet, live music and Legends & Champions ceremony. Friday presents a fully timed surf-film program from 11:30 AM, including Godpower, Birth of The Endless Summer, The Rising Dawn, Wade in the Water and Shaped by the Sea, followed at 5:30 PM by Bustin' Down the Door and its announced Shaun Tomson Q&A. Saturday centers on the all-day Surfers Reunion at Powerhouse Park, with a silent auction, Surfwriter's Book Fair, woody-wagon display, Mar Dels concert and outdoor dusk screening of The Endless Summer. Sunday adds author and photographer talks, a student art walk, the now-timed Women on Waves speaker program, and a newly announced 5:00 PM screening of Jim Lischer's Del Mar Surf History: Roots, preceded by a short Don Hansen tribute. General festival admission remains free, but the official organizer now requires advance registration for the climate symposium, Friday daytime films, Friday evening Bustin' Down the Door program and Women on Waves because space is limited; the registration form is live and allows those four sessions to be selected individually. Camino Books separately handles limited book-talk reservations. No surf contest, in-water session, athlete entry or livestream is announced. Del Mar is about 100 miles south of downtown Los Angeles and is included as a major regional surf-history gathering with unusually deep film, sustainability, art, shaping and community programming.

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