The Harbord Hotel is diving deep into local surfing culture to celebrate the 2021 World Surfing League (WSL) Rip Curl Narrabeen Classic which kicks off tomorrow.
A spectacular line up of surfing celebrities, live entertainment, exhibitions and talks will be offered at the Freshwater pub to honour the rich history of northern beaches surfing triggered by local teenager Midget Farrelly after he took out the first World Surfboard Championship at Manly in 1964.
In an action-packed ten-day program, the world’s surfing elite will hit the waves at Narrabeen in the third stop on the WSL championship tour, the stakes made even more interesting last week when Australia’s three-time world champion Mick Fanning stunned competitors and fans with his announcement that he’d be coming out of retirement to compete as a wild card.
He’ll be joining Kelly Slater, John John Florence, Tyler Gabriel Medina and Carissa Moore and Australia’s very own Stephanie Gilmore, Tyler Wright, Sally Fitzgibbons, Owen Wright and Julian Wilson to compete for a prize purse exceeding $1 million.
To coincide with the competition, the Harbord Hotel is hosting its own unique festival, starting tomorrow morning with a session of Divine Flow Yoga followed by breakfast and coffee with all proceeds donated to Waves of Wellness, a mental health surf therapy charity committed to changing lives.
Acknowledging the Northern Beaches as an incubator of surf culture for more than 60 years, Harbord Hotel owner Glenn Piper said Froth Fest was a tribute to local surfers.
“The Northern Beaches have produced some of the greatest larrikins and infamous characters in surfing and Australian counter-culture,” he said. “Froth Fest is a celebration of their art, their films, their song, their history.”
Popular drawcards throughout Froth Fest include lunch with seven-time world champion Layne Beachley; a display of work by Steve Gorrow, the award-winning designer and director of some of the surf industry’s most popular campaigns; board demos with M/SF.T Shapes or Bennett Surfboards; and courtesy of HaydenShapes, the chance to score Dion Agius’ new signature board.
Photographs taken by local surfing icon Peter Crawford will also be featured in a three-day exhibition, along with a screening of Men of Wood & Foam, the story of the pioneers of the Australian surfboard industry. Live entertainment will include Singer-songwriter Ruby Fields performing in the main bar and a live recording of the Ain’t That Swell podcast, hosted by Jed ‘Smivvy ‘ Smith and Vaughan ‘Deadly Blakey’.
Visit harbordhotel.com.au/froth-fest for tickets and a full run down of the program.
