Super Girl Surf Festival 2026: Day One

On the morning of Friday August 21st, 2026, the landmark Oceanside Pier stood tall against the rising sun and incoming waves. Adorned in sponsor signage, the pier — which has stood its ground since 1888, despite being destroyed and rebuilt five times — was prepared to celebrate a festival built around resilience and female empowerment. The Super Girl Surf Festival, which began in 2007 south down the San Diego coastline in Mission Beach, launched its 20th anniversary celebration with a three-day weekend filled with surfing, live music, and other beach sports.

The free event featured more than 750 women and girls competing in nine sports: surfing, longboarding, skateboarding/inline, beach volleyball, beach soccer, flag football, cheerleading, lifeguarding, and BMX. The boardwalk was buzzing on both sides of the pier, with sporting events taking place in the sand, in the water, and on the street, with an adjacent vendor village offering a wide variety of food, beverage, merchandise, and art options.

Picture the typical southern California farmers market, cranked up and generously offering free samples and meet-and-greet opportunities.

The surfing competition was livestreamed, with multiple announcers calling the action over loudspeakers, informing both serious fans and curious passersby who gathered on the beach and pier.

Super Girl is an officially sanctioned World Surf League competition, with surfers earning points that help them qualify for the sport’s Championship Tour. A field of 112 women were seeded and took turns competing in groups of four, with the top two women advancing to the next round. This event draws seasoned professionals, as well as rising hopefuls, with high stakes and intensity for each rider chosing their waves.

Between the boardwalk and the charming downtown area is the Junior Seau Pier Amphitheatre, named for the hometown hero — the late, legendary San Diego Charger and NFL Hall of Famer Junior Seau. The venue offers standing room, as well as concrete stadium-style benches. The stage was sponsored by SMKFLWR, a southern California surf/streetwear lifestyle apparel brand, designed by Orange County surfers and manufactured in Los Angeles. A perfect partner.

Each day, the stage offered live music across all styles and genres.

Go Scarlet — an all-female rock band from San Diego, made up of mothers, teachers, businesswomen, and community advocates — were up first on the performing stage. With their song “La Motocyclette” nominated for a 2026 San Diego Music Award (for Best Rock/Indie-Alt Song), the band had a great vibe to kick things off in the early afternoon.

Up next was all-girl pop punk trio Mad Hunny, also from San Diego. Consisting of Kaia Lobato on vocals/guitar, Zoe Bernard on drums, and Miya Schultheis on bass, the band has escalated to 5M+ social views in just a few months! Stylish and talented, they delivered the goods.

Teen rock band The Cherry Bombs held down the stage midday with impressive harmonies.

Formed in fall 2024, vocalist and guitarist Sam Augusto launched into originals like “20/20 Vision” and “Ghosted” alongside bandmates Isabella Novak on bass/vocals, and Evelyn Boren on drums/vocals.

Following that was an impressive performance by singer-songwriter/producer Hannah Geller from Appleton, WI. Armed with a music composition degree from San Diego State, Geller records, produces, and designs all her own merch and visuals.

Plus, she’s fun to watch thrash around the stage!

Day One continued on with Tia Penny, replacing Hannah Wicklund. The Arizona-based singer-songwriter/multi-instrumentalist has been recognized by SPIN as a “guitar prodigy”, with her debut EP Reflection currently gaining momentum. A literal last-minute replacement, Penny had to borrow an acoustic guitar! Despite this, she still impressed the crowd, who demanded an encore of original music.

Last musical act of the day was San Diego Brass & Electric, a horn-driven band led by Rozz Hopson, Elizabeth Sherman, Haley Marin, and Sam Roberson. “The Section” is the backing horn line. They filled the venue with sound as the sun began setting. All in all, Friday was a great start for Super Girl Surf Festival, with a lineup of local talent setting the tone for the weekend ahead.

Photography by Johnnie “Crow” Vrana

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