Del Mar is throwing its first-ever surf festival next month, and organizers say it's built to be as much about saving the coastline as celebrating it. The Surf Del Mar Festival runs October 8 through October 11 across four venues in downtown Del Mar, offering a free four-day lineup that honors the surfers who shaped the town's wave-riding culture while also looking ahead to the environmental fight now facing its shoreline.
The event is presented by the Del Mar Historical Society, a nonprofit whose mission includes preserving and celebrating the history and culture of Del Mar's seaside community, according to a news release cited by the San Diego Union-Tribune. The society itself has deep roots in town nostalgia: it was founded in 1985 by Marine Corps veteran Harold “Swede” Throneson and six fellow residents, according to the Del Mar Historical Society. Throneson reportedly got things started by displaying vintage photographs in local shops to draw visitors before the group became a formal nonprofit.
According to the release, the festival will bring together surfing legends, ocean enthusiasts, musicians, artists, historians, and climate activists over the four days. All festival events are free to the public, and the schedule is posted at surfdelmarfestival.com. Venues include Del Mar Plaza, St. Peter's Parish Hall, L'Auberge Hotel, and Powerhouse Park, giving the event a footprint that stretches across much of downtown Del Mar's historic core.
A Reunion Rooted in Del Mar's Wave-Riding Origins
Among the festival's centerpieces is a multi-generational Surfers Reunion, bringing together people who rode Del Mar's waves in the 1950s and 1960s and earlier alongside current and future generations of surfers. That gathering taps into a lineage documented at least as far back as 1934, when surfing and lifeguarding took place at Del Mar's 15th Street pier, according to Del Mar Lifeguard History. Submerged pilings from the original pier are reportedly still visible during winter low tides.
That same stretch of coastline, Powerhouse Park, sits adjacent to Del Mar's 15th Street surf break, described as a reef and beach break with nearby sandbars, per Visit Del Mar Village. The park is set to host festival concerts and movie screenings, including a showing of the surf classic Endless Summer, live music, and a woody wagon parade and display, according to the news release. The 15th Street Reef also hosted a Del Mar Surf Club contest back in 1981, a marker of just how long organized competitive surfing has run through this same patch of sand.
Honoring Don Hansen's Legacy
The reunion carries extra weight this year following the death of shaper Don Hansen, who passed away in March 2026 at age 89, as reported by SURFER Magazine. The festival's tribute to him links its Surfers Reunion directly to a loss still felt across San Diego's surf community.
The festival's film component leans into that same history. A film festival will screen surfing films, held in collaboration with the California Surf Museum, and will include a screening of Bustin' Down the Door, a film by surfer Shaun Tomson.
Music, Books, and an Afternoon for Women on Waves
Live music is woven through the weekend. The Mar Dels are slated to perform, and headline artist Peter Sprague will also take the stage. Sprague moved from Cleveland to Del Mar as a child and surfed at Eighth Street, according to the San Diego Reader. He has released multiple albums and performed with Chick Corea, and has described surfing and music as his “life and religion.”
A Surfwriter's Book Fair will include signings featuring surf writers and photographers, among them Jeff Divine, who will launch his new book, Divine Surf. Elsewhere, an Art Walk will feature displays and exhibits from coastal artists and local students celebrating surf culture, while a Women on Waves speaking engagement will devote an afternoon to those whose lives have been shaped by water. That panel is set for St. Peter's Parish Hall.
Climate Science Meets Surf Nostalgia
Not every session looks backward. Del Mar TV personality Jeff Lehmann will moderate the Surfing and Sustainability Climate Symposium, which includes discussions on ocean conservation, coastal protection, and climate action.
Del Mar Plaza is among the festival's venues, giving the gathering a downtown location.
With surf legends, climate scientists, musicians, and book authors all sharing the same four days, organizers appear to be betting that Del Mar's surf identity and its environmental future are inseparable stories. The full schedule for all four days is available at surfdelmarfestival.com.
