Tropical Cyclone Oma has thrown a curve-ball at the Noosa Festival of Surfing with the pounding seas having gouged a deep ridge from main beach on the site of their planned event which begins Saturday.
World Surfaris and Noosa Festival of Surfing director John Finlay said the erosion on main beach had become a major issue and talks were called with Noosa Council engineers on Monday to work out a solution.
“We have to respond to the environment,” he said.
“We have reduced the size of the bar to fit but there’ll still be a Beach Bar. It’s very unfortunate. We can’t bring in sand in time. The beach won’t regenerate.”
Mr Finlay said the judges tent would be constructed at First Point with scaffolding and the Vonu Beach Bar would be located in front of the surf club.
But all events will proceed as planned.
The Noosa Festival of Surfing will kick off on Saturday 2 March with not only a ton of surfing and cultural events, but also live entertainment at the Vonu Beach Bar.
For the first time in almost a decade, the World Surf League is returning to the festival with the longboard world championship race commencing on Noosa’s globally-renowned First Point.
A crowd-favourite event, the VetShopAustralia Surfing Dog Championships will return on main beach and the natural amphitheatre of First Point will be packed once more as spectators flood to see the happy pups in this free event.
“We have a bucket load of new things happening at the festival this year as we have a different approach compared to past years and we are in full support of the official opening party,” Mr Finlay said.
The festival’s official opening party will be held at Thomas Surfboards on Saturday 2 March from about 6pm.
Check out all of the festival’s events at www.noosafestivalofsurfing.com
