Mill Valley Local Brings Surf Culture to Marin County with 2014 High Line Festival of Surfing

The High Line Festival of Surfing is set to kick off Thursday September 4th and conclude on Saturday, September 6th at the Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley. The festival will celebrate the surfing lifestyle and features films by well-respected directors in the industry. In addition, the event will showcase live art and music, with evening concerts by Matt Costa, Tom Curren and DJ Keala Kennelly. This event is open to everyone and tickets range from $12-$25.

The festival, which previously went by the name ‘Mill Valley Surf Film Festival,’ was founded by local resident Ari Lurie. When asked why founded the festival, Lurie said, “During an emotionally challenging childhood being in the ocean gave me strength, peace and a sense of belonging. The ocean was and still is a place where I feel at home.”

Lurie continued, “Surfing is a spiritual existence for me and millions of others. We have our own tribe and religion bound by our love of the water and the High Line is a gathering of that tribe.”

The following is the schedule of events this weekend:

September 4th, 6:00 – 9:00pm (Opening Night Party at Equator Coffees at Proof Lab Surf)

September 5th, 5:00pm – 12:30am (Sweetwater Music Hall)

September 6th, 2:00pm – 1:00am (Sweetwater Music Hall)

The film festival will feature directors from each of the submitted films to discuss their work and take questions from the audience. Feature films in the 2014 festival include:

• Bella Vita, Jason Baffa
• Beyond the Surface, Crystal Thornburg-Homcy and Dave Homcy
• Expencive Porno Movie, Tin Ojeda
• The Granite Stoke, Dylan Ladds and Ryan Scura
• Pipeline and Kelly Slater, Marc Beaty
• What the Sea Gives Me, Petra and Pierce Kavanagh

Short films in the 2015 festival include:

• Big Foot Country 1, Ian Durkin
• Big Foot Country 2, Ian Durkin
• Catch It, Sarah Menzies
• Cradle of Storms, Ben Weiland
• Gathering, Nathan Oldfield
• June Gloom, Adam Warmington
• Malibu, Taylor Larison
• Running on Fumes, Perry Gershkow
• Ode to California, Patrick Trefz
• Whiskers, Austin Simkins

This event promises to have something for the entire family, and is a great opportunity to see this many forms of the celebration of surfing in one place. For more information or to get tickets, please visit: www.surfthehighline.com.