Weekend of beach festival fun for families at Sandhaven

The beach festival has been organised by Nick Jones, owner of South Shields Surf School.

Nick has been running sessions teaching adults and children how to ride the waves for the past year and decided the area would be an ideal place to host a festival.

Along with demonstrations in surfing, there will also be a first aid demonstration by South Shields volunteer lifeguards, beach yoga and kids yoga.

Visitors to the Autumn Festival will also have the chance to test out their balancing skills by trying out slack-lining and be entertained by The Good Vibes and James Asker Music.

Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service will also be in attendance with a fire engine and their water rescue vehicle.

The day will start and end with a two-minute beach clean up.

Mr Jones said: “I opened up the surf school last year and I thought it would be great for a festival of some kind.

“I mentioned it to a couple of people and they were really keen on the idea.

“The response has been amazing from the various groups. We have had so much support and a number of them will be attending over the weekend.”

The event will take place on Saturday and Sunday from 9am until late.

Throughout the weekend a surf competition will take place with a range of age categories from the under 10s to adults. They will be competing for a number of prizes which are up for grabs.

Meanwhile, youngsters can take part in the volunteer lifeguard rookie festival with prizes and medals up for grabs on Saturday.

The event will start at 1pm, registration is at midday. Obstacles include a beach sprint, flag race, throwing event and obstacle race involving an inflatable dingy.

Stand up paddle boards, boats, surfboards will also be available for people to try out.

Evening entertainment will take place at The Rattler on Saturday and the Sanddancer on Sunday.

For more details and to register for the surf competition email [email protected]

To register to take part in the rookie festival email Pamela at [email protected]

For details on the Autumn beach festival visit South Shields Surf School on Facebook.