Special coverage presented by Crown Uruguay - On the cover photo: Pignataro conceived, created and co-organized the event. Now he will put on the competition lycra. Photo: @jdnphotography 

This Thursday, January 6, the Corona Longboard Festival will be held on Bikini Beach in Manantiales, which in addition to being a longboard festival in Uruguay, will act as the first date of the national circuit of the national federation.

The one-day event will feature Open Men, Open Women, Grand Masters (over 40 years old) and a Tag Team event.

With the motto “we are united by our passion for longboards”, two respected Uruguayan surfers, Nacho Pignataro, creator of the event, and Luisma Iturria, its director, took on the responsibility of carrying it out with the help of Corona, La Isla, Vans and the Uruguayan Surf Union.

“The idea is to make it an all-day surfing festival, to be able to share the longboard culture through all of us who are there and for everyone to feel part of it, not just those competing, but also those on the beach, to breathe that same good vibe, that affection that exists between everyone, that desire for it to be a day of joy and enjoyment,” Nacho Pignataro, one of the best longboarders in the world who created the festival, told DUKE.

“The idea is that it will be an all-day surfing party, to be able to share the longboard culture through all of us who are there and for everyone to feel part of it, not just those who compete, but also those who are on the beach.

“There is also a championship, obviously, and one thing does not take away from the other, you can compete and you can also have a good time with friends, in the same round all day on the beach. The idea is also to be able to share a little of the things that you always see outside the country, that we absorb with our trips. So that this is the first of many, to start infecting people, above all infecting people with the good vibe that longboarding transmits, which is something to share, something of friends, of the group,” added Nacho.

“It will basically be an all-day party, starting with surfing and then we all end up dancing,” he concluded, referring to the Corona Sunset that will take place after the conclusion of the tournament.

Former Latin American champion and multiple Uruguayan champion, Luisma Iturria, said: “At this longboard festival we will be able to see several categories so that surfers can enjoy the classic left-hander on the rocky bottom of Manantiales in series with only two or three other people in the water.”

“Longboarders like Julián Schweizer, Nacho Pignataro, Arnold Glutz, Antonio Pita, Inés Beisso, Delfina Morosini, and Sofía Alfonso will be there. It will be a great event for the discipline. It starts early in the morning and will end with a Corona Sunset. It will be a great day to enjoy the beach, with surf, good vibes, and fun because there will also be a Tag Team, a team competition that will take place right there on the beach. See you on Thursday in Bikini, Manantiales,” said Luisma.

Registration is open on the website of the Uruguayan Surfing Union: https://www.ususurf.org/