8 February 2025

Surf Opening 2025: Austria's Long-Running Water Sports Event Adopts a New Format

After more than 30 years at Neusiedler See, the Surf World Cup in Austria is undergoing a major transformation. From 2025 onwards, the event will be rebranded as the Surf Opening, shifting its focus towards water sports while reducing large-scale entertainment elements. The new format will expand across multiple locations in Austria, emphasizing accessibility and sustainability.

A Nationwide Approach to Water Sports

Scheduled to take place from April 30 to May 4, 2025, the Surf Opening will no longer be confined to a single venue. Instead, it will be hosted at various locations across Austria, including Vienna, Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Salzburg, Tyrol, and Burgenland.

Organizers state that this shift is intended to make the event more accessible, reaching a wider audience and providing opportunities for more people to engage in water sports. To further encourage participation, entry to the event will be free, and each venue will offer introductory sessions for beginners at no cost.

Nine Disciplines Featured

The 2025 Surf Opening will include a variety of board sports across its multiple locations:

• Windsurfing & Windfoiling
• Wingfoiling
• Pumpfoiling
• Stand-Up Paddling (SUP)
• Wave Surfing
• Wakesurfing & Wakeboarding
• Skimboarding
• E-Foiling
• Surfskating

In addition, the event will feature a multi-discipline water sports competition in Vienna, which will serve as a qualifier for the Master of the Ocean event in the Dominican Republic, a well-established international contest in the water sports community.

Sustainability Measures and Infrastructure Changes

One of the key motivations behind the restructuring is sustainability. The Surf Opening will utilize existing infrastructures at participating locations, reducing the need for additional event-specific setups such as tents or temporary stages. This approach is expected to minimize costs and CO2 emissions while ensuring that evening events can take place without additional environmental impact.

While the event previously included large-scale parties, the organizers have decided to limit entertainment elements that require extra infrastructure. Instead, celebrations will be integrated into existing venues, maintaining a social aspect without the need for additional resources.

Accessibility and Sports Promotion

By expanding to multiple locations, the organizers aim to increase participation in water sports across Austria. They highlight that a broader reach may contribute to the development of new athletes and strengthen Austria's competitive standing in board sports.

The event has also received support from Olympic windsurfing champion Valentin Bontus, who will serve as an ambassador for the initiative. According to the organizers, growing participation in water sports at a grassroots level could also enhance Austria's presence in international competitions in the future.

Future Outlook

The transformation of Austria's Surf World Cup into the Surf Opening marks a significant departure from its original format. By focusing more on sports accessibility and environmental responsibility, the event is taking a different approach compared to past editions that heavily emphasized entertainment. Whether this new format will resonate with participants and spectators remains to be seen, but the expansion to multiple locations represents a strategic effort to broaden the event's impact.

Further details, including specific schedules and locations, are expected to be announced by March 2025 on the official event website on surfworldcup.at.


Image: Snapshot of the Surf & Watersports Map generated by Fashion.at on Google Maps (with locations as of February 8, 2025). Fashion.at has created this map using information from surfworldcup.at, showcasing the current known locations of the 'Surf Opening' (April 30 - May 4, 2025) for surfing, wakeboarding, SUP, and other watersports across Austria. These spots reflect the latest available details, but the full list of locations and official updates will be published by the event organizers in March. Map on google.com/maps/.