History of Surfest
Newcastle Surfest originated in 1985 when Newcastle’s movers and shakers were desperately trying to rid the city of its industrial image and showcase the beauty of Newcastle’s beaches and surf breaks to people from outside of the region. Yes, that’s right – Surfest began as the richest professional surfing competition on the planet. In more than three decades since those pioneering days, Surfest has become Australia’s largest surfing festival.
Until 2006, Surfest set up its HQ at Newcastle Beach, but moved permanently to the loved, iconic and revered Merewether beach in 2007. The fabled right-handers that peel down the rock and sand bottom off Merewether beach attract both competitors and spectators. It’s at Merewether that the competition’s patron Mark Richards honed the dance that would see him win four world titles – more than any other male competitor in the world, except for the ‘Floridian freak’ and 11-time world champion Kelly Slater (who, incidentally, claimed a Surfest crown in 2004). Mark Richards was named at Surfing Australia’s 50th anniversary as the most influential Australian surfer from 1963-2013.
In 2009, Merewether was crowned as one of Australia’s national surfing reserves. On final’s day in 2006, due to massive southerly swells smashing into the eastern seaboard, the event shifted to Merewether. More than 10,000 people rocked up to check out the action during the finals dished up on Super Surfest Sunday. It was pure magic –the natural elements fired and the planets aligned and it was then that organisers decided to relocate the event’s HQ permanently.
The list of Surfest champions reads like a who’s who of world surfing. Mick Fanning is a three-time world and Surfest champion, Occy has won twice (with a 12-year gap between trophies), as has Tom Carroll. Women champs include Stephanie Gilmore and Sally Fitzgibbons, while Rebecca Woods and Pam Burridge match Fanning’s effort with three trophies each.
Surfest has the ability to pack up and go mobile, as it did when it became the first pro-surfing event in the world to run competition inside a harbour. When a massive low-pressure system saw much of the east coast breaking out-of-control, reigning world champ Joel Parkinson showed his class by dropping into two-metre barrels inside the entrance to Newcastle Harbour.
In 2025, Newcastle Surfest returned to the international stage as part of the World Surf League Challenger Series.
