This is a calendar and information page on longboard competitions in 2023 all over the world, ranging from local surf events to the WSL World Longboard Tour.

Be sure to bookmark this page as it’s going to be your go-to place for all longboard competitions in 2023.

This page will be constantly updated with competitions when they are announced and new information for the already scheduled events. If you know of a longboard event in your area which is going on this year be sure to contact us so we can add it to our calendar.

British Longboard Tour

The British Longboard Tour is run by the British Longboard Union (BLU) but most importantly they have been largely organised by Minnow (link to Minnows article here) who is the heart and soul of these events. The events run by the BLU always have a fun friendly atmosphere with surfers making the most of the conditions at hand, living in the UK perfect waves are not a guarantee. Despite this, the British Longboard Tour has produced many surfers who have successfully competed internationally, Ben Skinner, Emily Curry, Mike Lay, and Izzy Henshall to name a few.

The Porthmeor Longboard Classic, St Ives, Cornwall, UK

15th – 16th April 2023 (Back up 29th – 30th April 2023)

Porthmeor Beach has long held as a jewel in the crown of Cornish tourism, has delivered small, clean, and contestable waves that have tickled the fancy of the more traditional longboard style masters and served up more noserides per hour than any other event to date. Despite being new to the tour, this event with its relaxed, summery vibe is rapidly becoming a firm favorite.

The Saunton Longboard Classic, North Devon, UK

13th – 14th May 2023 (Back up 10th – 11th June 2023)

Let’s face it, Saunton IS longboarding. Long, playful righthand walls that reel off for hundreds of yards, it’s not hard to see why this beach has been held in such high regard by longboarders of all persuasions from across the UK for YEARS and why it’s home to the Hotdoggers Longboard Surf Club (think the patrons of the Star Wars Cantina but in wetsuits). When it’s small, it’s super fun. When it’s big, it’s a shoulder-destroying paddle-fest that offers longer rides than most and allows you to go through your entire repertoire of moves and leave you with your legs burning. Devon knows how they made this one so gooooood.

The Stable, Fistral Longboard Classic, Cornwall, UK

16th – 17th September 2023 (Back up 30th – 1st October 2023)

Love it or loathe it, Fistral Beach is the undisputed center of surfing in Cornwall, if not the UK. For the more progressive longboarders, this is THE event of the year. Surfable from low to high – fast and hollow at times, playful and just a joy to surf at others – Fistral has quickly established itself as the perfect event to finish off the tour and often provides a dramatic twist in the tale that makes or breaks many a longboarder’s season. The always enthusiastically noisy beach crowd gives high tide heats an extra kick of heat, and the great food and drink served up by the main sponsor ‘The Stable’ just finishes things off with a bang. Not to be missed.

These competitions are for everyone interested in competing in longboarding, with their friendly vibe and wide range of competitive abilities. They have multiple divisions across age and gender, to find out more about entry click here.

Gliding Barnacles, Figueira da Foz, Portugal

Dates to be confirmed.

Just as barnacles spend their lives clinging on to the hull of ships, surfers live theirs clinging on to their boards, gliding over the waves, they are Gliding Barnacles.

Gliding Barnicals is an annual event established in Portugal with the goal of promoting surfing as a form of art and as an integral part of the community. A meeting point for surfers, artists, and creatives from all over the world. Gliding Baricals is more than just a surf event, it is a week of Surf, Art Music, and Food

How to get involved

The practice of surfing in Gliding Barnicals takes on a format that is different from any other event at an international level. Surfing is not seen as a sport but as a creative and artistic expression. In this logic, there is no competition.

Visit the website here

Gliding Barnacles Expression Sessions

In these sessions, surfers have the opportunity to demonstrate their style, creativity and innovation twice for 1 hour, with no room for criteria such as the number of waves or maneuvers as normally happens in competitions of this modality.

Although Gliding Barnicals is not a formal competition, they do award cash and other rewards – and winners receive the same pay, regardless of gender. In a world where gender pay gaps still exist, a reminder of equality remains: girls just wanna have fundamental rights. The expression session is an invitational event we think. If you don’t have an invite then last year Gliding Barnicals ran trails for the first time.

Trials:

For the first time, we open the opportunity to participate in the Expression Sessions to the general public.

For this, we will organize trials that will take place on the first day of the event.

Gliding Barnacles Shaper Contest

Invitation to national and international shapers who dedicate themselves to the design and construction of boards during the event, in live shaping sessions open to the general public.

Gliding Barnacles Fish Fry

While there is no information on their website we can only assume the Fish Fry is an invitational event where the competitors are riding fish-shaped surfboards.

Makorori First Light, Gisborne, New Zealand

18th Feb 2023

Makoroi First Light is New Zealand’s longest-running longboard event and has become a cult classic for many. A well-salted gathering of friends riding waves in the spirit of Aloha!

How to get involved

This event is open to everyone, to enter click here.

Mexi Log Fest – 22nd – 29th April 2023

MXLF is a surf invitational with a week’s worth of yoga, sound baths, kids surf clinics, delicious food, surf films, live music and more! This competition brings hundreds of the top competitive single-fin traditional longboarders from all corners of the world to surf the best waves in Mexico, with the mission to leave a positive trace with the local community.

How to get involved

All invites and wild cards for this competition have been given out now but it’s still a great competition to go hang around, and enjoy some good surfing and music.

Noosa Festival of Surfing, Noosa, Australia

3 – 12 March 2023

The Noosa Festival of Surfing started in 1996 and was loosely based on the Biarritz Surf Festival, which was an instant hit. Since 2010, the Noosa festival has attracted record levels of competitors each year, as well as thousands of spectators from near and far who come to see the legends of the sport, as well as the now world-famous surfing dogs.

The surf competition runs on the perfect running right-handers that the Noosa point offer, giving longboarders long walls to demonstrate their best surfing! To find out more about the Noosa Festival of Surfing click here.

How to get Involved

With many divisions to choose from you will not be short of choice in which category you want to compete. This event is open to everyone, however, they do recommend you have a high level of longboarding before entering the competition. If you would like to enter or look at the competition in more detail then click here.

Queen of the Point, Philippines

16th – 20th February 2023

Queen of the Point is the only all lady all longboard surf competition series. The mission of QOTP is to acknowledge and show respect to the women who came before, to give a platform for the current class, and to encourage girls of the future to embrace longboard surfing.

This year QOTP is going to be run at La Union in the Philippines. This area of the Philippines, positioned in the West Philippine Sea, pretty much has it all when it comes to wave selection! November to February is north swell season, also known as Amihan season, where the winds and waves come more from the north. Find out more about the event here.

How to get Involved

The event includes AMATEUR divisions, with a maximum of 12 spots per division, running in a round-robin format, guaranteeing participants a minimum of 2 heats!

The PRO division has 24 spots available. Heats have a maximum of 4 riders, with an early second-chance elimination round.

This event is open for all ladies who want to participate, if you would like to find out more about entering then click here.

Single And Unattached, San Juan, La Union

1st – 12th Feb 2023

This event is a single fin Invitational surf contest and beach festival based in San Juan, La Union. Presented and sponsored by Vans Philippines and Vessel Hotel. This is a week of surfing, music, sun and skating. With previous years being such a success, this is an event longboarders all over the world have their fingers crossed that they will be invited.

How to get involved

This is an invite only event so in order to compete you have to be selected by the Single and Unattached team. They describe what they are looking for and how people get selected in their instagram. According to Single and Unattached the process is not linear, there are many factors that contribute to scoring that all important invite. They admit it’s not just based on a person’s skill, while it is a key factor it is also not the only one, other factors include ‘a person that embodies good vibes, and is an advocate of that classic single fin logger life. Observing proper surf etiquette, and setting a good example for beginners are also taken into consideration’

If you are not one of the fortunate few to score an invite or maybe you’re not looking to compete but just go along for the vibe then everyone is welcome down the beach to enjoy the music and surfing. La Union itself is not a sleepy town so whether it’s day or nightlife you’re looking for you won’t be disappointed.

Smooth Movers, Cornwall, UK

TBC September

Smooth Movers and invitational surf comp which entails a weekend of surf, live music, community and a celebration of all approaches to wave riding. This event is a great one for surfers in the UK to come along and enjoy surf competition at its most relaxed. This year the top 3 of the men’s and the women’s log events got to qualify for Mexi Log Fest.

How to get involved

This event is an invitational but if you haven’t got an invite but would still like the chance to compete then they have wildcards which are given out closer to the event. So keep your eyes on their Instagram for how to be involved in those!

They also have a category open to everyone on any board, one heat, everyone in the water at the same time for 20 minutes, this is a great way to be involved if you are down watching for the day.

The Single Fin Mingle, Aotearoa, New Zealand

30th March – 2nd April 2023

From the outset our vision has been clear: To develop a world-class surfing event that brings together the very best surfers into the beautiful community and waves of the South Island, Aotearoa, New Zealand. To do this we have always had a simple formula – bringing great people together and having a great time. It is about celebrating our connections, and the culture that we are part of and inviting others in. From traditional surfing displays, art shows, film screenings and musical performances, the SFM has always been about sharing the love.

How to get involved

The Single Fin Mingle is an invitational competition. We aim to host not only NZ’s most prestigious surfing contest but an event that shows truly world-class longboarding. Due to the limited time we have to run the contest, there are a lot of amazing surfers who miss out on getting spots.

So how do you get one of these elusive invitations? Make a great video that showcases your surfing talents, stand out at other longboard events, have another Mingle competitor endorse you, come party be a legend, shred your local beach day in and day out! Enter your video submissions here.

The West End Wiggle | 13th – 16th April

The West End Wiggle is a traditional longboard festival presented by Saltair Surf at West End, Ōhope. More information on this event will be announced soon.

World Surf League Regional Series

The regional series is the pathway for budding longboarders to qualify for the World Longboard Tour. Each year 8 people qualify, 1 from each regional tour and the rest from wildcards. The way the regional series works is you can only qualify through the events in your region, you can compete in other qualifying events but you will not earn points towards qualification.

The 7 regions are:

Africa
Asia
Australia/Oceania
Europe
Hawaii
North America
South America