Europe’s biggest surf, skate and music Festival, the Rip Curl Boardmasters, will return for it’s 26th year to Newquay from 6th – 12th August 2007.

As a premier lifestyle and Music Festival, the Rip Curl Boardmasters has gone through massive evolution since it’s early days. Born during Britain’s pro surfing explosion in the 1980s, the Boardmasters festival has welcomed a number of surfing’s World Champions. Now spread across the whole town of Newquay in over three sites, the festival features a huge range of activities that entertain around 220,000 visitors each year, heavily boosting the tourism industry within the South West area.

The Rip Curl Boardmasters events include a $100,000 5* Men’s World Qualifying Series† (WQS) surf contest, a Women’s 3* WQS $15,000 event, Vans Summer Session Vert and Eastpak Miniramp skate contests, a huge trade village and Foster’s Beach bar. The festival’s music event, Unleashed, will also return for a 3rd year at the stunning cliff top location of Watergate Bay, arguably the country’s most unique location for a live music event and previously headlined by major music acts including Feeder, Razorlight and James Blunt.

UNLEASHED HEADLINE ACTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON 12TH APRIL! In addition to the Unleashed rock festival, the musical offering at the Rip Curl Boardmasters continues to grow. The Foster’s Beach Bar on Fistral Beach will host seven nights of live music at the ‘Beach Sessions’ presenting a selection of artists across a plethora of musical tastes from reggae soul to rock and punk.

The Rip Curl Boardmasters is the UK’s longest running surf event held at the country’s most famous beach break. The International surf contest hosted over the week-long festival is considered the start of a series of European Events on the gruelling WQS circuit and is visited by the World’s hottest surfers.

The Vans Summer Session is the biggest vert skate comp in the UK, if not Europe and is a massive highlight of the entire Rip Curl Boardmasters Festival. Skaters are invited from around the World to challenge for the coveted Summer Session Crown and the $20,000 prize purse!

Tickets for Unleashed cost £25 each night or £45 for a weekend ticket. Tickets can be purchased online at www.ticketweb.co.uk (search for Rip Curl) or call Ticketweb’s 24-Hour charge-by-phone on 08700 600 100

For further information on the Rip Curl Boardmasters visit www.ripcurlboardmasters.com