Ride the Waves: Crescent City Longboard Competition & Festival returns this September!
CRESCENT CITY, Calif. – Get ready for a weekend of thrilling longboard surfing action and community fun at the Crescent City Classic Longboard Competition & Festival! This exciting event will take place on Saturday, September 28th, and Sunday, September 29th, 2024, at beautiful South Beach in Crescent City, CA. The competition & festival is presented by Redwood Parks Conservancy (RPC). Proceeds from this event will fund essential projects in our redwood parks and public lands. Your participation helps preserve and enhance these natural treasures.
Date: Saturday, September 28th & Sunday, September 29th, 2024 Festival Location: 132 Anchor Way, Crescent City, CA 95531 Competition Location: South Beach, Crescent City, CA 95531 Festival Hours: 10am – 6pm Competition Hours: Registration begins 7:30am on Saturday, competition begins 9AM Sign Up: Visithttps://redwoodparksconservancy.org/cc-longboard/ to register for the competition or for more information. Sponsor or Volunteer: Please email events@redwoodparks.org.
Event Highlights:
Longboard Surfing Competition: Watch as seasoned pros and enthusiastic beginners alike showcase their skills and compete in a friendly, fun-filled atmosphere. Catch the waves and enjoy the sun with fellow longboarders. Competition begins Saturday and ends Sunday.
Live Music: Enjoy live performances from talented local musicians each day at the Harbor, creating a festive and energetic vibe.
Vendors: Explore a variety of vendors offering unique products, delicious food, and more, all while overlooking the stunning beach views.
Beer Garden: Relax and unwind at our beer garden, offering a selection of refreshing beverages for you to enjoy as you take in the festivities.
Festival Location: The festival will be held at the Crescent City Harbor, providing a perfect vantage point to overlook the surfing competition at South Beach. With its vibrant atmosphere and beautiful scenery, it’s the ideal spot to experience all the excitement and fun of the event.
Redwood Parks Conservancy’s mission is to foster understanding, enjoyment, and stewardship by providing support to its partner agencies – the National Park Service, California State Parks, Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Forest Service – who are entrusted with the care of northern California’s public lands. Support your parks by shopping, donating or becoming a member of RPC today. Learn more at www.redwoodparksconservancy.org.
This August, Redwood Parks Conservancy partnered with acclaimed poet Jodie Hollander to host a three-day Poetry in the Parks workshop series. Against the breathtaking backdrop of redwood groves, ocean bluffs, and quiet meadows, writers gathered to immerse themselves in the power of poetry and place.
Over the course of the weekend, more than 30 poets and community members came together to explore their voices in nature’s classroom. The journey began at Prairie Creek, where a lively group filled the meadow with words and inspiration. From there, the workshops moved to the dramatic bluffs of Crescent Beach Overlook, and concluded in the peaceful setting of the Howland Hill Outdoor School, each location offering its own muse.
Jodie Hollander reflected on the series, saying:
“It was an honor and delight to teach such an eager and talented group of poets deeply connected to their public lands. Redwoods National and State Parks was the most extraordinary natural setting for these workshops, and the perfect landscape for poets to find their inspiration. I was impressed by the caliber of poems written, and I hope the participants will keep writing and developing their poetic voices. Thank you for bringing me out and offering me the chance to share my love of poetry with your gorgeous community.”
The workshops sparked a wealth of creativity, with participants producing moving, original works. We’re proud to share a selection of these poems below:
Barn Swallows
By Mary Thibodeaux Lentz (Written at Prairie Creek, Day 1)
Barn swallows skim the meadow breathing the summer scent of dry grass and dandelion, maneuvering tails as precise as parabolas, open mouths to catch flies with slight sideways snatches, sleek indigo wings dodge swaying heads of Harding grass, avoiding thickets of bracken fern, rust-colored torsos soar up and over, climb into the mild blue sky, sharing the day’s innate grace.
How do they learn to trust that air will hold them, that wings will take them, that they are sufficient unto themselves?
Life is Better in the Country
By Megan Pucillo-Slayton
Each summer, I’d visit my grandparents at their slice of heaven, Shoestring Ranch, in the Eastern Sierras in Topaz. The emerald blue lake and the ranch animals- cows, pigs, and horses- always called my name. Throwing horseshoes in the ditch, Catching a greased pig at a Nevada rodeo, Munching on Frosted Flakes with Tony the Tiger grinning on the box, Watching TV trash my mom would never let me lay eyes on- game shows like Family Feud and soap operas like General Hospital, Devouring Grams’s decadent oatmeal cookies, Stealthily stealing tomatoes from the fridge and hiding them high up on Mount Everest in the game room closet near Hungry, Hungry Hippos. Riding on my #1 horse, Hamburger, with Uncle Ed, cheering on my lasso legend at the rodeos. That one time the rider of rodeo’s rope got caught on a bar above him, and he was injured. That one time, a little girl gave her favorite uncle all the coins in her pocket because her hero didn’t win the big money. That one time Uncle Ed asked me to play 52-card pick-up- I felt aghast when cards danced all over the family room. That one time, the prince of pranks declared he lived on 1313 Luck Street. That one time I was Homecoming princess, and my mom told me Hamburger’s sidekick had liver cancer. Two weeks to two months to live. That one time, I forced a smile and waved my princess wave. That one time, we visited my beloved uncle, so frail and feeble. That one time, three weeks later, we were reunited in my dreams.
Nostalgia
By Megan Pucillo-Slayton
Venturing to Jed Smith, my heart misses you so much Melancholic, I yearn to embrace you- my stomach’s in a punch Lavender lupine fields envelop me- comin’ in clutch Nostalgic memories flood me- I feel your touch Radiant, white trillium- youthful, energetic- wild and free Desiccated purple trill- waxing n feeble- best reps me Raging pristine emerald green water rushing Missing your warm touch- waterfalls gushing Redwoods towering- a myriad of green hues Extending your arms, it is her that you choose Bright sun blinds me through the colossal giants Woefully secluded from your blissful alliance A tear comes down my face as I reminisce, So begins my descent into the abyss Amorous times then- Dreadful times now, I will survive without you, but I’m skeptical of how… Are you ruminating about me like I’m recollecting about you? For you are my forever love- solid and true!
About the Instructor: Jodie Hollander is the author of My Dark Horses and Nocturne, both published by Liverpool and Oxford University Press. Nocturne was longlisted for the Laurel Prize in nature writing. She is a MacDowell and Fulbright Fellow and the creator of Poetry in the Parks, a program that brings poetry workshops to U.S. National Parks and Monuments. In July 2025, her work was published in The Atlantic, adding to a growing body of widely recognized literary contributions.
This series was not only about poetry, but also about connection—to nature, to each other, and to the creative spirit. We are grateful to all who attended, and to Jodie Hollander for bringing her passion and expertise to our community.
Stay tuned for future opportunities to engage with the arts in Redwood National and State Parks!