Disposable: The Single Fin Mingle
Words and photos by Esther Chaumont.
After months of travelling on the coasts of Aotearoa, New Zealand in my van in search of some clean (unlike me) swell, I couldn't wait to find a spot where I could settle down for a while.
You know when you’ve been moving around for so long you just want to… stop? That's when, with seemingly perfect timing, I landed at The Single Fin Mingle in seaside Sumner in the South Island. In it’s tenth year, the traditional longboarding festival was a godsend. I could drool at smooth long hanging tens, admire the work of a whole bunch of talented artists and shake my bum to some groovy tunes. That was already enough for me to categorise this as ‘my new favourite weekend of the year.’ I rocked up by myself, something an old regular said wouldn’t be a problem. As someone coming from the other side of the world (Quebec), I didn’t quite buy it, but I’ve got to admit now, he was not wrong. The event really is something special, breaking the barriers of exclusivity the surf world is so often renowned for. All together, we bonded over some sleek world class surfing, sick surf films, award worthy outfits, good cold beers, hot hot tubs, and yummy food.
Monster Children, for some reason, thought it’d be a good idea to let me photograph all of that. They didn’t have to ask me twice! With the first point and shoot I could lay my hand on, I had the pleasure of shooting this beauty of a fest.
See you next time SFM xx
