New Partnership Announced: Boardmasters Festival Teams Up with Oceana for 2024 and Beyond

Celebrating Sustainability with Surf Legends at Fistral Beach

In a significant move to enhance its environmental commitment, Boardmasters Festival has announced a new partnership with ocean conservation organisation Oceana. This collaboration marks a major step in Boardmasters’ ongoing green pledge to protect the ocean and coastlines, encapsulated by its #LeaveOnlyFootprints campaign.

Oceana’s First Major UK Partnership

Oceana, recently launched in the UK with Hugo Tagholm at the helm, is renowned for its efforts to expose industrial threats to the seas from destructive fishing practices and big oil. This partnership with Boardmasters represents Oceana’s first major collaboration in the UK, aiming to leverage the festival’s platform to raise awareness and drive action towards ocean conservation.

Special Event at Fistral Beach

To celebrate this new partnership, Boardmasters and Oceana will host a special event at this year’s festival. Big wave surf legends and environmental activists Greg Long and Laura Crane will make an exclusive appearance at Fistral Beach Bar for a Q&A session. The event promises to be a highlight, bringing together elite surfing and environmental advocacy.

Boardmasters’ Commitment to the Environment

Since its inception, Boardmasters has been dedicated to sustainability and reducing its environmental impact. In 2023, the festival’s efforts included beach cleans covering 550 miles of Cornish coastline and the removal of 92 bags of litter by 164 volunteers. Additionally, the festival’s partnership with Big Green Coach facilitated eco-friendly transportation, saving nearly 1.9 million miles of travel.

CEO and Founder of Boardmasters, Andrew Topham, expressed his enthusiasm for the new partnership: “Boardmasters is proudly a festival which places great value on sustainability. Each year, we strive to become better and do more to preserve and protect our beautiful location and surrounding areas, reducing our environmental impact along the way. We have a long-standing relationship with Hugo Tagholm, so it’s a real pleasure to be able to announce this new and exciting partnership with Oceana.”

Oceana’s Vision for the Future

Hugo Tagholm, Executive Director of Oceana in the UK, shared his excitement: “We’re delighted that Oceana has been selected as the official environmental partner for Boardmasters festival. I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to platform Oceana’s industry-leading campaigns to protect and restore Planet Ocean at this crucial time for our seas. We all depend on a healthy ocean, whether we live in city centres or on the stunning Cornish coastline.”

Oceana’s work focuses on combating overfishing, habitat destruction, and pollution. The organisation’s campaigns in the UK are backed by scientific research and advocacy, with recent efforts targeting the government’s oil and gas exploration licences.

Voices from the Surfing Community

Greg Long, a Californian big wave surfer and environmental activist, emphasised the importance of protecting the ocean: “I’m stoked to be joining Oceana at Boardmasters festival to talk about big wave surfing, environmental activism, and the urgent need to protect and restore our global ocean at pace. Surfing has helped expose me to the issues and challenges our seas face.”

British big wave surfer Laura Crane echoed these sentiments: “The Boardmasters festival is a brilliant opportunity to celebrate our ocean and take action to protect it. Being a surfer, the ocean is my safe haven, so the idea that oil, plastic, or sewage pollution make it unsafe – for people and wildlife – is heartbreaking. But I am hopeful that we can turn that around, and great organisations like Oceana are helping to make that happen.”

Boardmasters Festival will take place from 7th – 11th August 2024. For more information, visit www.boardmasters.com.