The annual celebration of surfing will be held in the plural. Why are there two International Surfing Days, on June 20 and 23, 2013?
In 2013, International Surfing Day will be enjoyed in two days: June 20 (Thursday) and June 23 (Sunday).
The opportunity to come together to celebrate the great sport of surfing is strangely being held on two different days.
The event, held annually on or near the summer solstice date, was kicked off by The Surfrider Foundation and Surfing Magazine in 2004.
Beach clean-ups, surfing with friends, barbecues, film screenings, and shaping workshops are usually on the schedule of this special day for surfers.
The International Surfing Day microsite announces the celebration for June 20, while EuroSIMA's site prepares surfers for a full range of activities on June 23.
Apparently, no reasons are listed for having two different International Surfing Days.
We could imagine American and European interpretations of the date or even a time zone décalage, but wouldn't it be more effective to have a unique world date to celebrate waves and surfing?
Update from Tugce Tasar, from EuroSIMA | June 27, 2013
"We, as EuroSIMA, have organized a celebration day of surf at a European level, on Sunday, June 20, 2004, following the organization of 'World Snowboard Day' two years later."
"Meantime, Surfrider Foundation in the United States started celebrating 'Surfing Day' in 2005."
"As their tendency to celebrate the ISD every year is during the solstice day of summer, there started to be two different organizations organized for the same purpose, but separately in two parts of the world."
"We, as EuroSIMA in partnership with Surfrider Foundation Europe, think that it would be more efficient to celebrate this day on a weekend so that it could be more accessible to the public."
"During the years, we have tried to contact Surfrider Foundation US to agree upon a certain date to celebrate the ISD globally."
"Unfortunately, they would like to continue celebrating it on the solstice, and we would like to keep it on the weekend because of the active participation."
"We did organize the event commonly with them during two years when the solstice day was on the weekend, but other than that, for the moment, we are having problems setting up a certain day."
"We would be more than happy to agree upon the issue with them and celebrate this big day all in common. Hopefully, we will get there one day."