the largest gathering of Black surfers on the planet returns to the Huntington Beach Pier

Now in its third incarnation, A Great Day in the Stoke, the largest gathering of Black surfers on the planet, returned to the Huntington Beach Pier on Saturday, September 14. The brainchild of Nathan Fluellen, the event first got underway in 2022 as a way to bring Black and African American surfing communities together. Today, it’s turned into a full movement that attracts hundreds of surfers and offers so much more than just a another surf contest.
Created in the aftermath of the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, along with other race-based issues, A Great Day in the Stoke was intended to get people together and bring something positive to the beach. Inspired by A Great Day in Harlem in 1958 and a Great Day in Hip Hop in 1998, the initial running of A Great Day in Stoke saw over 500 people show up.

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​A little bit surf contest, a little bit beach party, as well as part health and wellness festival and community gathering, there really was something for everybody going down at A Great Day in the Stoke. On the surf side, there were events for shortboard, longboard and groms.
​Hawaii’s Julian Williams was on hand to successfully defend his shortboard title, and won the longboard title. Sahara Faye won the women's longboard, edging out last year's winner, Farmata Dia and Monik Santos won the shortboard. Logan Moss won the boys grom.
There were free surf lessons for anyone looking to dip a toe in the water for the first time, beach yoga and a double dutch competition.

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