The Wavescape festival is swell
Cape Town’s annual Wavescape Festival, from November 15 to December 9, is a collection of events that take place around the city, all centred on surfing and the ocean. We spoke to co-founder of the festival Steve Pike about what he’s got planned for the y
What is the theme of this Wavescape festival?
We have a theme every year and this year the idea of big waves jumped out at us after we noticed that we were premiering a big-wave movie while also partnering with an amazing project to document the big-wave spot Dungeons near Hout Bay.
Part of our partnership was an exhibition of 60 big-wave boards, which are up to 11ft [3.35m] long, as well as a Big Wave Night during which we hosted a panel discussion with top big-wave surfers and their surfboard shapers.
Big-wave surfing, while underground and essentially the hobby of only a small group of hardy Cape Town surfers, is iconic to Cape Town.
We have two of the world’s most perfect big-wave spots, each one as scary and as beautiful as the internationally famous breaks at places like Waimea Bay, Sunset Beach, Mavericks, and Nazare in Portugal. Also, Cape Town people are fascinated with the weather and the giant waves that lash the Cape of Storms. It was a natural fit.
How has the big-wave experience been portrayed since the start of the festival?
The exhibition of big-wave boards, highlighted by Big Wave Night, with the surfers talking about their boards and the shapes that safely get them down the face of giant waves — with input from the guys who make these boards for them — was key to this bigwave experience.
How have surfboards changed through the years? What does this suggest about the evolution of surfing?
Surfboards began as giant longboard shapes modelled on ancient Hawaiian wooden boards ridden by royalty. The shortboard revolution began to take place in the ’70s followed by the invention of the three-fin “thruster” in the ’80s. The board shapes allowed for more radical, faster, more critical surfing. But surfers who wanted to ride big waves have always needed to ride boards that are big and chunky because boards with more volume are easier to paddle into fastmoving mountains of water.
Tow surfing, however, is another story entirely. You don’t need a giant board to get on the wave because you’re pulled into it by a jetski. Tow boards are small and thin, with foot straps, but they’ve been made much heavier to enable surfers to cut through bumps and chop on the face of the wave.
Part of the festival is the release of the movie
Satori by Rick Wall …
Satori means “a glimpse of truth” or a sudden moment of awakening, and it speaks to the experience of riding giant waves. The film documents Cape Town surfers who have dedicated their lives to the ocean and riding huge waves at infamous Dungeons below the sentinel off Hout Bay and Sunset Reef 1km off Kommetjie. The film explores the common connection they all feel despite being very different people of all ages. It’s a unique deviation from tired clichés — a salty authenticity that’s the perfect antidote to the commercialised sycophancy of the drama of big-wave surfing that labours under the unrealistic weight of expectation by sponsors and surf brands. As big-wave hellman and adventurer Chris Bertish has said: “In big-wave surfing you have to be 100% immersed in the moment. It forces you back into the present. And that’s where life is experienced at its fullest.”
What is Slide Night?
It takes place at the Centre for the Book in Cape Town and comprises a series of 10-minute talks by ocean thought-leaders from a variety of fields, like sport, science, media and biology. We have had artists, craftsmen, athletes, activists, scientists and celebrities who’ve shared inspiring ideas, research or adventures. This year we welcome “animal whisperer” Anna Breytenbach, who speaks about sharing space with sharks; David Nhlapo, a paraplegic who has found redemption in adaptive surfing after a bullet hit his spine while he was protecting his pregnant wife; oceanographer Zoleka Filander who shares the mysteries of her research into sediment taxonomy and the ecology of deepsea canyons and corals; Chandru Wadhwani, the MD of Africa’s largest PET plastic recycler, Extrupet, giving us an update on how project Save the Planet is going. We also have a trio of big-wave surfers taking us through a crazy rescue video shot on GoPro during a huge day out at a Cape Town reef, environmental storyteller Pippa Ehrlich unlocking the secrets of the Cape Town kelp forests, and Faeez Abrahams, who gives us an insight into the politics of surfing during apartheid.
Are there any social-good events taking place?
Conscientising people about the need to care for our oceans has become a key mandate of the Wavescape Festival. We began in 2004 just as the plastic horror happening in the ocean was stirring into the cacophonous chorus it has become today. We continue to partner with some of the most important ocean activist and awareness groups in SA, including the Save our Seas Foundation, Marine Stewardship Council, Petco, WWF and others.
Is the film festival a big part of Wavescape?
The film festival used to be the biggest part of it. It’s through these beautifully shot surfing and ocean films that we can express our love for the ocean, which in turn speaks to the people who attend our screenings. They come to be part of something special, while being entertained at the same time. This year we have some really brilliant films from as far afield as Russia, Morocco, Norway, Iceland, Scotland, Liberia and Senegal.
But we also want to put back into film by working with young filmmakers in the Wavescape Masterclass. We partner with top filmmaking facilitators and top filmmakers to present a workshop for young filmmakers.
For a complete programme of events, go to wavescape.co.za