A SURF and music festival which raises money for a mental-health charity is due to return this week for the first time since 2019.
The Good Vibrations Surf Festival, in support of Mind Jersey, is scheduled to take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and features a 1980s-themed surf contest, live bands and DJs, beach five-a-side football, mental-health workshops, a thrift store, surf-art gallery and two evening events at the Watersplash.
In addition to the retro surf contest, the Channel Island Surfing Championships will take place across the weekend, with the contest window starting at 1pm on Friday.
The festival, which has previously run on only one day, has not been able to operate since the start of the pandemic, and organiser Jake Powell said its return had been a ‘long time coming’.
‘Last year we were due to run on the first weekend that large-scale events were going to be allowed and we ended up finding out a few days before that it was not possible. This year we have decided to take the festival to the next level and run it across three days, with a number of new features,’ he said.
‘I love throwing a party and making sure everyone has a good time. Our theme is centred around mental health, enjoying yourself and creating a positive message for everyone. We have been starved of these types of opportunities over the past few years so I am super-pleased that we are going to get to enjoy ourselves and make the most of the weekend,’ he added.
The festival kicks off with the Channel Island Surf Championships, a paddle-out in honour of Mind Jersey and the first of two evening events.
The festival is also running its ‘mullet for Mind’ campaign in which participants are asked to raise money in return for getting the distinctive haircut. The trims will be given on Friday evening by KSG Barbershop, which will also have a pop-up barbers on the Saturday where people can make a donation and get their own 80s-inspired haircut.
Mr Powell added: ‘We want to see as many people come down on the Friday, before it all kicks off on the Saturday when we will have the five-a-side football tournament, mental-health workshops, a thrift store, surf-art gallery, live bands and DJs throughout the day and the main nightclub event in the evening.’
The Sunday will also feature live music and the retro surf contest.
‘With the scale of the festival increasing, we are hoping to raise more money for Mind Jersey. All proceeds from the daytime events go straight to them, as well as a donation from the nightclub tickets,’ he said. ‘There will also be collection buckets and other opportunities to donate throughout the weekend.’
For more information, to donate or to purchase tickets for the nightclub events, visit goodvibrations.je.
