Forget National Rosé Day. In what is maybe the most chill move in the history of government, this week the California state legislature officially declared September 20 “California Surfing Day.”
According to the resolution, passed Tuesday, the holiday is intended to “celebrate the California surfing lifestyle.”
With some 3.3 million surfers nationwide, the industry — almost exclusively based in California — accounts for more than $6 billion in United States retail sales annually, according to the resolution’s text.
From “Gidget” to the Beach Boys to (love it or hate it) Tom Wolfe’s “The Pump House Gang” to the iconic surf documentary “Endless Summer,” surfing is unquestionably engrained in California’s fabric. The holiday is intended to make sure it stays that way, honoring the “history, culture and future of surfing” and inspiring future surfers to keep the sport alive.
“California Surfing Day” is not the only surfing-related piece of legislation making its way through Sacramento. Another bill, co-authored by two Southern California assemblymen aims to make surfing the official state sport.