4 things to know about Sea Change Festival in Long Beach

11.07.2022 17:25

DailyNews.com

As kiteboarders, windsurfers and others compete on the ocean during the West Marine US Open Sailing Series in Long Beach, a small festival will make its debut with big hopes of making its mark on the environment.

The Sea Change Festival is set to take place from 12-4 p.m. on July.16 to coincide with the July 15-17 West Marine event, which is a competition as well as training series for more than 80 Olympic athletes and hopefuls who are aiming their sails at the 2028 games.

“Sea Change is about bringing awareness to all the things you can do on a daily basis to help improve the environment,” said Brian Lewis, senior vice president of retail development and activations for Kilroy Realty Corporation, organizers of the Sea Change Festival.

Up to 1,000 people are expected at the festival, which will take place on the sand in Belmont Shore.

Here’s what you need to know about the upcoming Sea Change Festival.

The cleanup

This event is all about the environment, after all, Lewis said it was named Sea Change as a play on words because they want to see change happen. So those who want to help clean up the beach will get gloves, a bucket and instructions on what to look for and pick up along an approximately two-mile stretch of beach from the venue site to near the Belmont Pier.

The music and art

As people clean the beach and hang out throughout the day, they’ll be able to hear some live jamming from San Diego musician Jonny Tarr, a singer/songwriter who recently won the San Diego Music Award for Best Pop Artist of 2020. He’ll be performing throughout the entire event.

And if you see giant bottles or cups or other oversized pieces of plastic trash laying around, don’t try to pick them up because you’re looking at inflatable art created by artists Jana Cruder and Matthew LaPenta, who dubbed their installation artwork “Natural Plasticity.” The inflatable pieces, which look like plastic bottles, cups, straws and other plastic everyday items, are made of recycled plastic and displayed with the aim of sparking activism through art.

Sandcastles skills

Expect to see some impressive sand sculptures since there will be professional sandcastle builders on hand showing off their building skills. But people can also get into the sand construction fun too, if they enter the sandcastle building competition, which is open to the public.

Kiteboarding

While some of the other sailing competitions will be taking place far out on the water, the kiteboarders will launch from a ramp located right at the festival space. So expect a competitive close-up show of high-flying kites and the daring athletes trailing behind skimming through the water.