Sessions Surf Festival Returning To North County With Music, Films And Art

ENCINITAS, CA — Sessions Surf Festival will return to North County with a week of live music, surf films, art exhibitions and community events celebrating surf culture.

Formerly known as the Solento Surf Festival, the event will take place Sept. 12-19 at venues in Encinitas, Solana Beach and Carlsbad.

"Sessions has always been about surfing," filmmaker and festival founder Taylor Steele said in a statement. “It's about the surf films that inspire us, the music that becomes the soundtrack to our lives, the artists who capture our surf culture, and the community that surfing creates."

The reimagined festival will open Sept. 12 with Music Sessions at Seaside Reef at 2504 South Coast Highway 101 in Solana Beach. The event will run from noon to 10 p.m. and feature Osees, Unwritten Law, Bully, Yoke Lore, MT Warning, Jack Shields and the Mojave Rush, and Emily Afton.

VIP ticket holders will also have access to a beachfront sauna and cold plunge experience.

A free Beach Day is planned for Sept. 13 at Seaside Reef. The event will include the Count Down Cup surf competition, followed by live music, entertainment, food and drinks.

La Paloma Theatre in Encinitas will host Film Sessions from Sept. 17-19. The three-day program will include surf films, filmmaker conversations, panel discussions, live music and other events curated by Steele.

One of the highlights will be a 25th anniversary screening of "Shelter," a 2001 surf film directed by Chris Malloy and Steele. The film features surfers including Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Shane Dorian, Taylor Knox and Donavon Frankenreiter. Malloy and surfers from the film will participate in a discussion following the screening.

Other films scheduled include "Maps to Nowhere: In the Current," "In Pieces Together," "Unmakeable," "Kinder," "Blue Sunshine," "Silent Sound," "ProCasual," "HUCK 2" and "Problematic."

The theater is at 471 South Coast Highway 101 in Encinitas.

The festival's free Art Sessions will run Sept. 14-19 at Hotwater Gallery at 6880 Embarcadero Lane in Carlsbad. The exhibition will showcase the work of 11 artists and include live music, food and drinks.

The full schedule, ticket information and festival updates are available at sessionssurffestival.com.