Mark your calendars: The Virginia Beach Super Girl Surf Festival is September 5 through September 7. The world’s biggest women’s sports, music, and lifestyle festival, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.
The free, family-friendly event is and centered on empowering women and girls. Previous events have taken place in Oceanside, California, and Jacksonville Beach, Florida. This year marks the inaugural festival at Virginia Beach.
More than 5,000 female athletes will compete in 14 sports. The Labor Day weekend event is expected to draw more than 100,000 guests.
The festival also includes concerts featuring artists like Lupe Fiasco, Gym Class Heroes, B.O.B., Hannah Wicklund. While the organziers strive to create a female-centered lineup, they also work with male artists who are passionate about the festival’s mission. Many are inspired by their own mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives.
There are also plans for fitness and wellness classes, female-centric art exhibits, panel discussions, and more.
History of Super Girl Surf Festival
“When we launched the Super Girl Festival Series in 2007, it was inspired by my daughter and the barriers she faced, barriers that many young girls continue to encounter when pursuing their passions in sports,” says Rick Bratman, founder of the Super Girl Festival Series and CEO of ASA Entertainment. “It quickly became clear that opportunities for women and girls were limited, and that the playing field was far from equal.”
In the early days of the festival, participation was sparse. ASA Entertainment struggled to bring on even just 16 female competitors in surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and other sports. After 20 years, the event grew from a single competition into the world’s three biggest women’s surf competitions. It’s also a platform to support thousands of female athletes in more than a dozen different sports.
Virginia Beach was chosen as the third location for the festival because Bratman describes it as a “natural choice” for the expansion.
“Virginia Beach has such a strong surf and action sports culture, and we saw a great opportunity to build a long-term event that not only celebrates that heritage but also shines a spotlight on the women and girls helping to shape the future of action sports,” Bratman says. 31 Street Oceanfront, Virginia Beach
Feature image courtesy Fifth & Main PR
