The world’s largest surf contest and festival, the Lexus US Open of Surfing, will bring massive crowds, and hopefully massive waves, along with a whole lot of action to Huntington Beach starting this weekend.
The nine-day event kicks off on Saturday, July 25. It’s a summertime staple in Surf City that for decades has been a must-do at the beach, drawing throughout its run an estimated 500,000 festival-goers and surf fans eager to watch some of the world’s best surfers battle in the waves.
This year’s surf contest could be one for the books, with a series of tropical storms lining up that could bring some big waves to test the surfers’ skills — a stark contrast to last year’s micro waves that were so small one of the contest days had to be called off.
But the mega event is much more than the action in the ocean, with 13 acres of festival set up on the sand south of the pier, featuring everything from a beach bar, vendors giving out swag, food trucks, athlete signings and meet-and-greets and more throughout the event.
“It’s a gathering place, a meeting place for those who love surf, beach lifestyle and a good time in the summer,” said Brooke Farris, World Surf League chief marketing officer and its North America president. “(It’s a) celebration of surfing.”
Farris remembers competing at the US Open in 1998, the first international event for the Australian native.
“It’s pretty amazing how much of a fixture in the Southern California surf scene it is,” Farris said. “It’s the community and the fans and the love of surfing within Orange County. Surfing is really embraced as a premier and professional sport.”
The contest will always be a special one for Encinitas surfer Levi Slawson, a 23-year-old preparing to defend his US Open of Surfing title from last year.
“Looking back on it now, it’s actually a crazy thought that I’ve achieved the goal of winning that event,” he said. “It’s the best feeling that I’ve ever achieved, personally.”
He remembers, as a 10-year-old just starting to surf, watching 11-time world champion Kelly Slater and many of the world’s best compete at the Huntington Beach event.
“I was so young at the time that I didn’t even know that I could have a career in surfing,” Slawson said.
Then it was his turn on the podium, and even though he had long dreamt of the moment, he said he still wasn’t mentally prepared for what that winning moment would feel like.
“It was one of the most emotional days that I’ve ever had,” Slawson recalled. “All the pent-up feelings that you have through the day that you’re containing as a competitor — and then the draining feeling afterward. The achievement was so incredible.”
And, he added ahead of Saturday’s competition start, “I could see myself there again.
“I would love to grab that feeling again.”
The US Open of Surfing is unlike any other surf contest, he said, the fans cramming the beach and lining the pier making it special for the surfers who can hear the cheers from in the water.
“I think what’s unique about Huntington is probably the crowd factor and how much people care about surfing,” he said. “It creates a massive platform for surfers to be able to be under a high-pressure situation, with a lot of people watching. It’s the most prestigious event on our Challenger Series tour. It holds a lot of weight with the people that have won the event.”
Last year, Slawson missed out on making the jump from the Challenger Series to the World Tour, the major leagues of the sport, by just 100 points — one heat win away in the final event of the year from making the cut. The top 10 men and five women at the end of the year bump up.
“My main goal is to obviously qualify for the World Tour and be surfing competitively at the highest level,” he said. “The Challenger Series is the stepping stone.”
For some of the surfers already at the elite level, the Challenger Series is a back-up plan, just in case the World Tour events aren’t going their way.
Several San Clemente surfers on the World Tour are signed up to compete at the US Open with hopes of staying on tour.
Brothers Griffin and Crosby Colapinto are listed as competitors in this year’s event. Griffin Colapinto won the title five years ago in 2021, a key moment that helped him secure his spot on the World Tour.
They’ll be joined by fellow San Clemente surfer Cole Houshmand, who is coming off a Challenger Series win in South Africa — needed momentum as he’s struggled to get results in the first half of the year.
Huntington Beach’s Kanoa Igarashi, also a World Tour surfer, will also be in the mix, hunting for his third US Open of Surfing title in front of a hometown crowd.
On the women’s side, a mix of longtime veteran surfers will have to go up against the rising tide of young female surfers.
Several local rising stars, including San Clemente’s Bella Kenworthy and Kirra Pinkerton, are on the roster, as is Sawyer Lindblad, a World Tour surfer and the reigning champ who will be back to try for her third US Open of Surfing title.
The event also brings out the best longboarders for their first stop on the World Surf League Longboard Tour.
Three-time world longboard champion Rachael Tilly, who grew up in Dana Point but now calls San Clemente home, said she is excited to put the competition jersey back on.
“I love the fact that this is kind of like the pinnacle of summer every year,” she said of the US Open.
But after nearly a six-month hiatus from competition, the first event back can be nerve-wracking, she said.
Having already clinched three world championships and a US Open of Surfing title back in 2024, she can enter the event feeling content with her accomplishments, allowing her to enjoy the contest up the road from her home, she said.
“It’s home and there’s nothing like competing at home,” she said. “One of the biggest treats of being on a World Tour is getting to see the world. But there is something different when you get to actually have your friends and family, who don’t travel around with you, be there on the beach and get to share the experience with you.”
She also gets to show off her hometown and favorite surf breaks with the visitors she spends the year competing against.
“That’s something that feels really unique for me every time the US Open comes around and I’m really proud of my home and where I’ve gotten to grow up,” Tilly said. “There’s something extra special about having everyone from around the world be in your hometown.”
The US Open of Surfing win changed her career, Tilly added, a moment that gave her momentum and confidence to earn her back-to-back world titles in 2024 and 2025.
“I have my US Open jersey framed because that was such a meaningful win to me,” she said. “I always look forward to going back to it. It’s home for me. It’s comfortable. I love the wave. I’m confident on the wave.”
Fans love to be a part of these big moments in the pros’ careers and everything else on offer at the event, Farris said.
“They love the spectacle of it, and they love that there’s always something else to do — you can watch the world’s best surfing, you can hit up the beach bar, you can go to the music stage,” she said.
The concerts — capped at 3,000 attendees — will be held on July 31 and Aug. 1, the first night featuring Real Estate and Allah-Las, and on the following and final night Local Natives and Arcy Drive.
Surf City native Matt Costa, 44, will be screening “The Search for Volcano Island,” which the musician scored the music for, in the Festival Village from 4 to 4:45 p.m. on Saturday, July 25, followed by a DJ set at the Beach Bar.
It’s a return home for the Huntington Beach High School alum who started writing music when he was 19 following a skateboarding accident down a 10-stair ledge that shattered his leg.
“When I was recovering, I started learning and writing full songs,” Costa said. “I didn’t really plan on doing anything professionally with music, I was just doing it because I just enjoyed it.”
He remembers going to the US Open of Surfing in his younger years, feeding off all the energy, getting free swag from the companies set up on the sand.
His years growing up at the coast helped shape his music over the last two decades, he added, and his appearance at the US Open of Surfing feels like a homecoming. He won’t be surprised if his mom, Mikki, comes out and heckles him, he said with a chuckle.
Throughout the event, there are autograph signings and partner giveaways, sweepstakes and programmed activities planned.
In the beach bar area, there will be expanded picnic tables set up on the sand for people to watch the action in the water, Farris said. There will also be food trucks right on the sand.
Griffin Colapinto is planning a workout on the sand with sponsor Red Bull, a Santa Monica company that is also planning an Air Force plane jump for the crowds, Farris said.
This year has an added celebration, marking the first pro surfing world champion crowned by the World Surf League 50 years ago, Farris added. A special “Peter Townend Best Performer Award” will be handed out in honor of surfing’s first world champ. An event on July 29 at 5 p.m. will also honor Townend at The Huntington Beach House.
For a full list of events and schedules, go to usopenofsurfing.com.