What we know about the 2022 Wavescape Surf & Ocean Festival

The Wavescape Surf & Ocean Festival presented by Vans will be held from 1 to 11 March 2022, and will comprise a diverse lineup of ocean-minded events, including film screenings, talks, art exhibitions, a charity auction, a lecture, community upliftment days, ocean expo, live music, a photographic competition and a public mural.

About the 2022 Wavescape Surf & Ocean Festival

The festival’s director, Shani Judes confirmed that the festival has moved from December 2021 to March 2022.

“Our reasons are to mitigate against the continued threat posed by COVID-19, to grow festival attendance during a less busy time of the year, and of course the weather in Cape Town is generally kinder to us late in the summer!”

The Film Festival component includes five days of film screenings at four venues – the Shred in Paarden Eiland, the Labia Theatre in town, the Galileo at Kirstenbosch and one in Kommetjie.

The Board Meeting takes place at Jack Black’s Taproom, and will feature an exhibition by leading sustainable ocean eco-brands and conservation organisations, a surfboard swop and children’s activities, topped off by a DJ and band.

The Ocean Photographic Exhibition

Meanwhile, Wavescape has teamed up with Orms, Canon and SJ Artists to curate the Ocean Photographic Exhibition, which features the best ocean photographs in South Africa.

The competition opens for submissions in early December and runs until 15 January 2022. Judges will choose 20 images for an exhibition along the Sea Point Promenade from 1 March.

There will be a NSRI panel with information and donation information for people to easily donate to the NSRI.

Wavescape returns with the famous Artboard Project when handcrafted surfboards are the canvas for SA’s top artists that go on exhibition and are auctioned for ocean organisations and youth development programme 9Miles.

Wavescape will also run the Wesgro Blue Ocean Master Class for aspirant environmental filmmakers, the Save Our Seas Foundation Beach Reach on Dalebrook beach in front of the SOSF-Shark Education Center in Kalk Bay, and an evening of surf forecasting and wave science.

Advocating social and environmental change

Slide Night returns to the Centre for the Book with some of the world’s best creative and scientific minds advocating social and environmental change, from scientists to artists; authors to activists, as well as salty tales of adventure and scientific curiosity from the high seas.

Wavescape again hosts Oceans Alive at the Two Oceans Aquarium, an evening of surfing, activism and conservation.

Here, they will join Protect the West Coast to shed light on the effects of illegal heavy mineral sand mining along this pristine wilderness to the North.

With the support of the Wesgro Film and Promotion Unit, the Blue Ocean Masterclass focuses on film techniques in and on the ocean and includes top cinematographers and underwater camera experts sharing thoughts and expertise on the technology and skill of this burgeoning area.

The full 2022 line up

• 28 Feruary: Artboards go up at Jack Black’s Taproom (until auction 9 March)
• 1 March: Oceans Alive at the Two Oceans Aquarium
• 2 March: The Beach Co-op – Under Sea cleanup
• 3 March: Slide Night at the Centre for the Book
• 4 March: African premiere of Girl’s Can’t Surf at the Labia Theatre
• 5 March at 12:00: The Board Meeting at Jack Black’s Taproom
• 6 March: Save Our Seas Foundation Beach Reach at Dale Brook
• 6 March: Film screening with The Galileo open air cinema at Kirstenbosch 
• 7 March: Screening of Our Oceans by WILDOCEANS at the Labia Theatre
• 8 March: Blue Oceans Master Class presented by Wesgro at The One Stop Shop 
• 9 March: Artboard Auction at Jack Black’s Taproom with Nik Rabinowitz
• 10 March: Kommetjie Film Screening
• 11 March: Film screening at The Shred