Golden Screening honours 50 years of British surfing

Aug. 23, 2012 - PRLog -- From a misunderstood sub-cult to a multimillion pound industry, surfing has evolved dramatically since it first took off in the UK fifty years ago. Yet despite this shift towards the mainstream, the original passion that fuelled the pioneering surfers in 1962 still remains today and perhaps nowhere more so than in Newquay, Cornwall, the spiritual home of British surfing.

To celebrate the ‘golden’ anniversary of this unique cultural phenomenon, the British surfing community is coming together in Newquay on 25 August for a free ‘Big Seaside Screening’ of the classic surf film The Endless Summer. Locals and visitors alike are encouraged to gather together on The Headland overlooking Fistral Beach in Newquay to pay homage to the pioneers of surfing, who cemented its revolutionary spirit in the hearts and minds of the generations that followed.

Roger Mansfield, author of The Surfing Tribe, which recounts the history of British surfing, says: “In 1963, I was there, an eleven year old kid starting stand-up surfing with a handful of men in Newquay bay. It was amazing thrill in the moment and, as it turned out, a life-forming experience for me. The elder surf-riding peer group, who befriended me, had not been riding the Malibus for more than a year.  My detailed research, more than forty years later, confirmed that 1962 was the critical formative year, both for Newquay and several other significant north Cornwall communities.”

“Newquay has a lot to thank surfing for,” says Newquay Business Improvement District Manager Eve Wooldridge, who with Event Cornwall is hosting the screening.  “Surfing is worth more than £70 million to the Cornish economy alone, and is an integral economic force in Newquay, where hundreds of businesses rely on the sport. For this reason, I think it’s fitting that we’re honouring 50 years of surfing here in Newquay where it all began.”

Visitors can set-up a spot on the headland from 6:30pm, before the film starts at 8pm.  The Endless Summer is one of the most famous films in surfing history charting the ultimate surfing adventure as two Californian surfers travel the world in search of the perfect wave.

Tickets are free for the screening, which will be distributed on a first-come first-served basis from the Tourist Information Centre on Marcus Hill.  The Big Seaside Screening is being hosted at The Headland Hotel, organised by Newquay Business Improvement District in association with Event Cornwall’s Outdoor Screening Series.
For more information, go to www.eventcornwall.co.uk or call Newquay BID on 01637 498599

ENDS

Issued on behalf of the Newquay Business Improvement District by Excess Energy.  For further information or interviews, please contact Rhona Gardiner on rhona@excess-energy.co.uk or 07740 410052, or Rhianna Morton on rhianna@excess-energy.co.uk or 01637 852130.