BLOGGING THE VIEW: Fun facts about the Ballito Pro

Wednesday saw the official start of the world’s longest-running professional surfing contest, The Ballito Pro, presented by O’Neill, which will be bringing surfing, skating, biking, and fun festival action to KwaDukuza until 9 July.

This has become a winter holiday highlight for many families, and the 54th edition looks set to be an epic one. Here are some fun facts about this event, and what to expect this year.

1. This year’s theme Konke KuLuhlaza – Zulu for Everything is Blue – showcases the importance of ocean conservation. The campaign is all about ‘going green for the big blue’, with support for a number of local and NPO initiatives including the Blue Flag Beach programme, the O’Neill Blue Sustainable Product Collection, Litter4Tokens, The Litterboom Project, and WEEE are iLembe.

2. The first event was held in 1969 at the Bay of Plenty in Durban, named the Durban 500 by its founders Max Wetteland, Ian MacDonald and Ernie Tomson. It was so named for the whopping R500 first prize with a motorbike for the runner-up and a HiFi set for third place.

3. Durban local Shaun Tomson – the son of co-founder Ernie Tomson – won six consecutive titles from 1973 to 1978. This has not been matched by any other surfer, or at any pro surfing event since. Shaun Tomson is also the founder of the iconic Instinct surfwear brand which was relaunched this year.

4. After a long run, many international surfers pulled out owing to South Africa’s apartheid laws, but in the early 1990s, with Nelson Mandela’s release, it became one of the 11 elite World Championship Tour (WCT) events.

5. It was during this time that there were moves to ban cigarette advertising at a time when Gunston’s annual sponsorship of surfing exceeded R1-million. The plan was to create a festival around the event that attracted sufficient funding to continue.

6. The new millennium saw Mr Price taking over sponsorship, with wall-to-wall branding and free music concerts attracting visitors to the Durban Beach Festival. However, in 2009 it moved to KwaDukuza when disputes over the music festival hosting arose.

7. When Mr Price divested from its sports properties, Billabong took over the sponsorship from 2015 to 2018, with O’Neill taking over the reins in 2019.

8. The fun continues, with the surf contest running alongside the many festival activities, including the free-to-attend Ballito Pro Music Concerts on 6 and 7 July at Salt Rock Main Beach from 5pm. There’s also the epic Ballito Pro Skate Jam at the Ballito Bowl on Saturday, 1 July from 12 noon.

9. For the first time, The Ballito Pro introduced the Para Surfing Expression Session, which welcomes disabled surfers from the Made for More NPO who will compete in a variety of surfing categories on Saturday. This continues the festival’s drive for inclusion, sustainability, and growth.

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