Fourth Edition of India Surf Festival 2015 takes off

After all the pre-event long preparations, India Surf Festival 2015 kicked off with over 70 surfers that includes 20 female surfers and 300 resident registrations that travelled from every corner of the globe on Friday. The day started with a stand up paddling workshop followed by SUP Cup preliminary round. Total of 14 surfers were short listed for the SUP Cup Championship. The festival saw surfers practicing for the Asian Surf Championship that is also to take place tomorrow. The winners will be awarded prize worth $1500. Kite surfing demonstration by Srilankan group and Demotri was the standout of the day.

Immediately after the action packed SUP Cup prelims and the practice sessions, the event saw Shri Ashok Panda, Minister of Tourism Department, Govt. of Odisha who inaugurated the event. “It’s exciting to see surfing grow in Odisha. We have so much potential” added Shree Ashok Panda.

Dipti from Mumbai said. “The set-up for this event is incredible. The organizers really haven’t held back. Odisha is really beautiful and the nature’s everywhere. I’m really happy the people here have been such amazing hosts”. This first day festival concluded with music performance by Thallavattam band from Bangalore that made the spectators respectfully applauding. As the morning hours passed, the beach began to fill in with locals, tourists and the occasional dignitary. Though the sport was new to most of the people in attendance, photos with the surfers were taken and applause was shared.