March 16th 2021: The Duke

There are very few surfing events that really buck the trend and blow their participants and spectators away. Even fewer deserve the "festival" monicker, but The Duke Festival takes the challenge by the short and curlies and knocks it right out of the park.

Many years ago local Christchurch surf photographer Warren Hawke (something of a legend in surf photography circles) decided that the visit by Duke Kahanamoku to the area in 1915 was worth celebrating. Others agreed and so began a procession of annual surfing events that anchored the incredible Hawaiian with the beach culture of New Brighton. And New Brighton has been transforming with each new tide – evolving into a place where surfing is celebrated, reflected on the walls of cafés and restaurants and sandy feet and wet hair are just an everyday occurrence.

I follow some wet footprints into the opening event: a surf-themed art exhibition that features some incredibly talented artists. Out the back a band is playing and a cardboard cutout of Duke himself is being passed around for photos. Hawaiian shirts are handed out and the event embodies the aloha spirit. There are grommets rubbing shoulders with legends like Denis Quane.

As if by chance the first day of competition has very good surf. A rampaging easterly soon joins the party and turns the ocean into soup, but it doesn't seem to matter. The best surfers still get through. The smiles are still wide. The parents are still frazzled. The kids are still skating and New Brighton is shining.

The Duke is more than just a surf contest. It's something else entirely. It's a community of people that love the feeling of sand between their toes and salt on their skin.

See you at the beach ... Derek

PS This is our 500th edition. Can you believe it? That's 500 editions where 95% of the images have been cast aside for the chosen few. 500 times where I've stared at a blank Mac screen and wondered what might fall out of my brain. We're still here because of you and we're still free because of our amazing advertisers, partners and every single one of you who have bought our photography over the years. Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you.