Drinking up surf culture

Suzie Harrison

The name of the surf culture event to be held Saturday and Sunday on

the Festival of Arts grounds is misleading, but its mission is clear.

The Moonshine Festival is a celebration of music, art, film,

photography and surfing, not homemade liquor.

The two-day event, already sold out for Saturday, is a benefit for

the Fight to Walk Foundation for Kevin Kroushinsky, Tuberous

Sclerosis Alliance, Surfing Heritage Foundation and the Kokua Hawaii

Foundation.

The event’s co-chairs, pro surfer and filmmaker Chris Malloy and

local gallery owner and surfer Will Pennartz, said they are looking

forward to the second annual event.

“We feel like surfing has come to a point where it can really

speak to people and have a serious impact on our culture,” Malloy

said.

Last year at [seven-degrees], the venue reached capacity, and many

people had to be turned away. This year’s new location on the

festival grounds will foster a much larger capacity for a lot more

people.

“The last eight years myself, my cousin Emmett Malloy and Jack

Johnson started working together on films,” Malloy said. “We began to

meet so many people -- when you do a film, you need to get musicians

together and artists together, great photographers and designers.”

Malloy and Pennartz have been friends for about four years and

have similar interests in surf culture and different art media.

“I would come in [the Surf Gallery] looking at art, and we started

talking about surfing together,” Malloy said.

Malloy said a couple of years ago, he and Pennartz were surfing

together and came up with the idea for the Moonshine Festival.

“What if we could get all these people together for one or two

nights and make it more of a real experience for people?” Malloy

said. “Let’s do something real and tangible [that] people can

experience.”

Malloy said he doesn’t think anyone has done anything like the

Moonshine Festival before -- “not at this level, maybe a small film

festival, [art exhibit] or concerts, but nothing like this.”

Malloy said one of his favorite aspects about the festival is that

it takes risks, showcasing some emerging artists.

“People might not have heard of them, but they are amazing

musicians that are not as well-known,” Malloy said. “[People will be

able to say], ‘I saw those guys when they were nothing.’”

Some of Sunday’s lineup includes Neil Halstead of the Mojave 3, a

band of surfers flying in from England to perform.

“Mainly people we had play for our films [will perform],” Malloy

said.

A special treat performance will be made by the Shins’ lead singer

and guitarist James Mercer.

“It’s a phenomenal band,” Pennartz said. “He’ll play a solo

concert.”

Malloy said the Shins perform the standout songs on “The Garden

State” movie soundtrack.

Three surf films are part of the festival. Malloy’s “A Brokedown

Melody” plays Friday. Saturday’s showings are “Sprout” by Thomas

Campbell and “Monumental: David Brower’s Fight for Wild America” by

Kelly Duane.

Malloy has played a role in front of and behind the camera. “A

Brokedown Melody” is Malloy’s fourth film, and he co-produced

“Sprout.”

“I have been in front of the camera for 15 years and making films

for about eight,” Malloy said.

Malloy has been lauded for his filmmaking. In the past, he won at

the XDance Film Festival, the action sports constituent of the

Sundance Film Festival, for his film “Shelter.” He also received the

“Film of the Year” award from Surfer Magazine for his film “Thicker

Than Water.”

Pennartz and Malloy said Hollywood-type films have sensationalized

surfing and truly don’t understand the culture or the sport.

“They’re not showing the side of surfing that’s true,” Malloy

said. “They are sort of sensationalizing it and turning it into a

commodity. So for us to do a festival that helps perpetuate the true

essence of surfing is a huge honor.”

Laguna Beach was chosen for the event because it has been

significant to the surf culture throughout its 80-year history.

“Laguna is innovative, has charm and magic,” Malloy said. “Laguna

has that magic and is a sanctuary somehow.”

From 4 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, they will host a benefit dinner and

silent auction at Tivoli Too! Tickets are $200 and include full

access to Saturday and Sunday events with preferred seating.

The causes to benefit from the Moonshine Festival are personal to

Pennartz and Malloy. Friend and surfer Kevin Kroushinsky sustained a

serious neck injury while surfing at Salt Creek in April 2003.

Another friend’s child is suffering with tuberous sclerosis, a rare

genetic, neurological disorder.

The Surfing Heritage Foundation seeks to preserve surfing’s roots

for future generations, and they hope to donate to the foundation, so

it can open the world’s best museum to preserve surfing heritage. The

Kokua Hawaii Foundation funds educational programs for children in

Hawaii.

Moonshine Festival tickets are $35, and the doors open at 4 p.m.

at the festival grounds, 650 Laguna Canyon Road. Tickets can be

purchased online at https://www.moonshine

festival.com. Tickets for the benefit dinner can be purchased by

calling the Surf Gallery, 911 S. Coast Highway, at (949) 376-9155.