Surf Week coverage

It takes a village

Surf Week’s vending village among main attractions over busy Long Beach weekend

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NYSEA’s fifth annual Surf Week, which ran from July 16-20, is known for its popular surfing competition — featuring pros like Balaram Stack and Leif Engstrom — skateboard contests, and assorted music, movie, and art events.

Thousands of people also passed through Surf Week’s vending village at National Boulevard boardwalk last week, which featured more than a dozen merchandise, refreshment and informational tents operated by local businesses, independent New York-based clothing brands, and non-profit organizations.

Among the vendors on the boardwalk were Surf Week organizer NYSEA, a collective of New York surfers, artists, skaters, and locals; Hurley, the popular surf lifestyle brand and a main sponsor of this year’s event; and Unsound surf shop, whose surf team riders include professional surfers Stack, Will Skudin and TJ Gumiela, among others.

Innovative brands were also featured at the vending village, including WaveJet, which produces a surfboard that uses a propulsion system.

The Central Long Island Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation was also on hand to create awareness about local environmental issues.

Many said that the vending village and other Surf Week events were a main attraction for both visitors and locals over the busy weekend. Local businesses like Gentle Brew, the Beach House, and many others sold refreshments and other items, while Long Trunks — a Long Beach-based clothing start-up company known for its iconic “Bring on the Elephants” apparel — and Colony, a New York-based clothing brand, were among the many merchants selling T-shirts, hats and other surf-inspired gear and apparel.

“Long Trunks had an epic time being a part of this year's surf week vendors’ village,” said co-founder Dave Yolinsky. “We would like to share our thanks to NYSEA for the invite and special thanks to the community for their overwhelming support!”