Fort Lauderdale's surf scene may not get the same acclaim as California or even other parts of Florida, but a new festival is hoping to make some waves in the city.
After four years on the West Coast, the Solento Surf Festival will be coming to Fort Lauderdale on Friday and Saturday.
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The festival, which will take place at Savor Cinema, will feature surf film screenings, panels, live music and more.
Solento initially began in Encinitas, near San Diego, and is the brainchild of California-based filmmaker Taylor Steele.
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Steele is a legend in the surf community with more than two decades of influential surf projects on his resume and a spot on Surfer Magazine's "25 Most Powerful People" list.
He's pals with surf icons like Kelly Slater and Rob Machado, his films have helped launch the careers of musicians like Blink-182 and Jack Johnson, and he's the founder of Solento Organic Tequila, which the festival is named after.
Local
Steele told NBC6 he's looking forward to highlighting the South Florida surfing community this week.
"Fort Lauderdale has a really strong, tight-knit surfing community that often gets overlooked when people think of the great surf cities in the US," he said. "When we were looking to expand the Solento Surf Festival, South Florida kept coming up as a destination where we could really add value. I’ve also had some memorable experiences in Fort Lauderdale and it always has me coming back for more."
Festival Details
Savor Cinema at 503 Southeast 6th Street will be hosting the festival with doors opening at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and films starting at 6 p.m.
The festival will feature a panel conversation with Lisa Andersen, a Florida native and four-time world surfing champion who's in the Surfer's Hall of Fame.
Also appearing will be rising surf star Ryan Huckabee, another Florida native who'll be speaking and showing his surf film "Huck."
Bands performing include The Floridians and Camp Blu.
For more information and tickets visit the festival's website here.
