The Boardmasters 2023 music, skate, and surfing festival gets into surfing gear with the Friday surfing contests underway, The women's open longboard contest heats progress with surfers from Northern Europe dominating. . Mixed weather has not deterred beach goers though. Headliners include Lorde, Florence and the Machine, Dermot Kennedy, Liam Gallagher, Ben Howard, Rudimental, For Tet and Sofi Tucker. As in previous years local residents have found themselves stuck in mega traffic jams as the festival coincides with peak school holiday tourism. The Organisers donate significant amounts of money each year to local charities and good causes. the huge numbers of mainly young folk throng the town.