Festival profit funds surf and ocean
safety lessons for local Tamariki & Rangitahi
Festival Vision.
The Duke Festival is a non profit community Festival located in New Brighton, Christchurch. The Festival celebrates the love and unity that Surfing brings to us all. Duke Kahanamoku's showcase and introduction of modern surfing as a sport to the public of Aotearoa, which sparked a wave of popularity in Surfing across the motu. Duke’s vision was to share Aloha through surfing to others and that is what the Festival has
always achieved.
Surfing has always been here in Aotearoa. It has ancient origins rooted throughout all of the pacific cultures. Accounts can be traced back to as early as 12th century Polynesia. We know through oral history, indigenous art and early missionary written accounts that Māori, Hawaiian, Tahitian and Sāmoan people were all commonly riding waves on handcrafted, native wooden boards and that Surfing was something that European had never witnessed before. It is no suprise considering the people of the pacific were great navigators of our ocean utilising the wind, tides, moon, stars and manu to pave their way to Aotearoa.
Known as the most inclusive surf Festival in Aotearoa with 190+ surf comp entries each year with the youngest competitor being 5 and the oldest over 70, the Festival celebrates Duke’s legacy by fostering talent and participation in surfing and skateboarding to the highest quality through opportunities for lessons, competitions and demonstration events. The Festival also cultivates and encourages visual arts, music and cultural performance of Otautahi, Christchurch.
“In Hawai’i we greet friends, loved ones and strangers with Aloha, which means with love. Aloha is the key word to the universal spirit of real hospitality, which makes Hawai’i renowned as the world’s center of understanding and fellowship. Try meeting or leaving people with Aloha. You’ll be surprised by their reaction. I believe it and it is my creed.”
Aloha to you, Duke Paoa Kahanamoku
Festival Values
The Festival aims to fund Surf and Ocean Safety lessons every year for local tamariki and rangitahi to provide a pathway for more kids to make surfing part of their lives and to protect kids and teenagers in the ocean. You can support this cause by sponsoring an event, buying tickets, art or merch at the festival.
Athletic Development & Sportsmanship
The festival is centred around Surfing and Skateboarding competitions. Both competition sites are within metres of each other and you can compete in both. The Surfing Competition is sanctioned by Surfing New Zealand and the Skateboarding is endorsed by Skateboarding NZ. Competitors travel from all over New Zealand to compete. You do not have to be club affiliated, a regular competitor, trial or pass a vibe check to enter, The Festival aims to beinclusive of all competitors and make everyone feel like whānau.
Aloha Spirit & Cultural Ambassadorship
The Duke Festival aims to reconnect surfing in Aotearoa with its cultural roots. We know through recorded and oral history that Māori were surfing before European contact and that it was a significant part of their culture. The Festival achieves this by including Māori and Polynesian cultural performance opportunities by local primary and high schools and funding Surf and Ocean Safety lessons to tamariki and rangitahi on the east of Christchurch. On the East we have a very rich cultural demographic and also include other cultural performances that represent the cultures that also enrich our community.
By funding Surfing and Ocean Safety lessons in our area, the Duke Festival hopes to inspire more Māori and Pacifica kids and teenagers to get into surfing and reclaim this special art. In 2026, South New Brighton, Rāwhiti Primary, Linwood Primary, New Brighton Catholic and Te Pā Rāukaihautū received these lessons, fully funded thanks to profits made from art sales
and merch sales.
Innovation
Building Community
The Festival provides opportunity for local Artists in the visual art and music industries by putting on a collaborative art exhibition and a live music event. Each year we give over 40 artists in the visual art, music and performance fields a platform to showcase their work. Art and music are definitive subcultures of Skateboarding and Surfing and many musicians and artists have been inspired or influenced by both sports. The Duke Festival hosts the Stoked Art Exhibition and Salty Sessions live music gig. In 2025, The Duke Festival welcomed the celebration of New Brighton's rich street art culture and history by hosting the Carve Street Art trail thanks to Christchurch City Council place partnership fund.
The Duke Festival provides a large scale event to a lower to medium income area. The Festival hopes to support local business by bringing more people to New Brighton.
The community will be lifted by showcasing the talent Aotearoa has in Surfing, Skateboarding,Art and Music, raise awareness around a historic event for New Brighton and Surfing's cultural ties, and to provide a great Festival that is relevant to a diverse range of people.
The Duke Festival's ethos is to be accessible to all. The only ticketed event is the Salty Sessions Live Music event where tickets are kept affordable to give the whole community an opportunity to enjoy the event. All other events are kept free for public enjoyment and any profits made contribute to fund surf and ocean safety lessons for our eastern tamariki/rangatahi.
