International Surfing Day, held annually on the third Saturday of June, is an unofficial, environmentally conscious sports-centered holiday that celebrates the sport of surfing, surfing lifestyle, and the sustainability of ocean resources.[1] [2] Contests and prizes[3] are also part of the celebration, with surfing-related industries donating prizes such as surfboards and wetsuits.[4] Another purpose of the celebration is to promote the popularity of surfing and to attract new participants.[5]
International Surfing Day was established in 2005 by Surfing Magazine[6] [7] and The Surfrider Foundation.[6] [7] International Surfing Day closely follows the spirit and intent of the World Surf Day, established by the Usenet newsgroup alt.surfing in 1993.[8] International Surfing Day is a worldwide[9] celebration of the sport of surfing. The day is observed with surf contests,[7] barbecues,[10] film screenings[4] and other surf-related activities. Surfers also use the day to give back to the environment by organizing beach clean-ups,[6] [7] [11] [12] [13] [14] dune and other habitat restoration[10] and other activities[2] such as lobbying to maintain the recreation areas in California where surfing occurs, or planting Naupaka (a flowering coastal plant) in Hawaii.[15] [16]
Direct action was used by form of protest on this day in England to express opposition to sewage in the waters of the Gold Coast; a precarious problem for many surfers who become infected by the bacteria from open wounds from sports-related injuries.[17]
International Surf Day events have been held on all populated continents including South America where it is celebrated in Argentina,[9] Brazil,[18] and Peru. Also in the Southern Hemisphere the holiday is observed in the Oceanian nations of Australia[19] and New Zealand. The day is also widely observed in the American state of Hawaii, also in Oceania.[2] [14]
In North America the surfing day is most widely observed and celebrations may be found in Canada, Costa Rica, the French Antilles, El Salvador,[20] Mexico,[21] and in the majority of coastal states of the United States:California,[3] [15] Connecticut,District of Columbia,Florida,[13] [22] Georgia,[23] Maine,Maryland,New Jersey,[6] [11] New York,North Carolina,Oregon,[10] South Carolina,[24] Texas,and Virginia.After North America the observance has the most popularity in Europe: including in most of the coastal European Union and it is held by surf enthusiasts in France,[5] Italy,[5] the United Kingdom,[17] Portugal,[5] Spain,[5] and Belgium. Further European celebrations are held in Norway,[5] in addition to many of the EU nations overseas possessions.
In Africa, the two French territories of Réunion and Mayotte[5] hold annual festivities alongside Morocco,[5] the Spanish insular area of the Canary Islands[5] and South Africa. The day has also taken hold in some other countries such as Israel and Japan.[5]