Thousands enjoy Oceanfest at Croyde
THOUSANDS of sun, surf and sand worshipers have been celebrating the summer solstice weekend at this year s GoldCoast Oceanfest. The three-day surf, sport and music festival at Croyde has just about wound down for another year – and organisers can congra
THOUSANDS of sun, surf and sand worshipers have been celebrating the summer solstice weekend at this year's GoldCoast Oceanfest.
The three-day surf, sport and music festival at Croyde has just about wound down for another year - and organisers can congratulate themselves on staging another first class event, the largest in the month-long North Devon Festival programme.
This year's Oceanfest was a complete sell-out; only a few early risers were able to pick up the last handfuls of tickets as the gates opened at the main arena early on Friday morning.
It all kicked off with hundreds of local schoolchildren descending upon Croyde beach to enjoy an action-packed day of beach sports and games at the North Devon Gazette-sponsored Schools' Day event.
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Then, on Saturday, women's soccer and volleyball took precedence on the beach while surfers did their best to score waves on what turned out to be a less-than-generous North Devon swell. Over in the main arena, music fans were entertained by a host of bands throughout the day. By the time Newton Faulkner had made way for headliner Jason Mraz, the atmosphere was electric and police had to appeal to the surging crowd to take a few steps back before the gig could go ahead.
Today (Sunday), it was the men's turn to get down and dirty in the sand for the beach soccer. And while more volleyball, the Big Boy Paddle race and Legacy Ironman Eliminator entertained the crowds on the beach, back in the main arena, another full day's line up of music - and regular Red Bull skate and Animal bike demos - kept the festival atmosphere rocking.
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For a full round-up of the weekend's action, don't forget to read Wednesday's North Devon Gazette. Pictures covering the entire weekend will be posted on this website tomorrow (Monday).
