Surfest is an annual surfing competition held in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. Surfest began back in 1985 as an initiative of Newcastle City Council, who were looking for a major event to host within the city. Back then, the BHP Steel International was the richest professional surfing event in the world. Surfing outside Kaneohe Bay, Hawai‘i. ... Competition is the act of striving against another force for the purpose of achieving dominance or attaining a reward or goal, or out of a biological imperative such as survival. ... A view of Newcastle from Stockton Newcastle is Australias sixth largest city and the second largest in the state of New South Wales. ... This article is about the year. ... BHP Billiton is the worlds largest mining company. ...

In 1995 to mark the events 10th anniversary, organisers renamed the main event in honour of Newcastle's Mark Richards - calling it the Mark Richards Newcastle City Pro. Whilst not the richest in cash terms, the event embodied the hospitality of Newcastle as a city and competitors came in their throngs to get a piece of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)[1], World Qualifying Series (WQS) 4 Star ratings and prizemoney but also to pay tribute to 4 time world champ Mark Richards. Since then, Surfest has grown substantially. 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Mark Richards is a surfer from Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. ... The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) was organized in 1976 as governing body for professional surfing. ... Mark Richards is a surfer from Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. ...

It is Newcastle's only annual international sporting event and attracts more than 200 surfers, with many coming from around the globe, including the United States, Hawaii, Brazil, Japan, South Africa, New Zealand and France.

External links

• Association of Surfing Professionals
• Surfest
• Energy Australia