Suzie Harrison
The name of the surf culture event to be held Saturday and Sunday on
the Festival of Arts grounds is misleading, but its mission is clear.
The Moonshine Festival is a celebration of music, art, film,
photography and surfing, not homemade liquor.
The two-day event, already sold out for Saturday, is a benefit for
the Fight to Walk Foundation for Kevin Kroushinsky, Tuberous
Sclerosis Alliance, Surfing Heritage Foundation and the Kokua Hawaii
Foundation.
The event's co-chairs, pro surfer and filmmaker Chris Malloy and
local gallery owner and surfer Will Pennartz, said they are looking
forward to the second annual event.
"We feel like surfing has come to a point where it can really
speak to people and have a serious impact on our culture," Malloy
said.
Last year at [seven-degrees], the venue reached capacity, and many
people had to be turned away. This year's new location on the
festival grounds will foster a much larger capacity for a lot more
people.
"The last eight years myself, my cousin Emmett Malloy and Jack
Johnson started working together on films," Malloy said. "We began to
meet so many people -- when you do a film, you need to get musicians
together and artists together, great photographers and designers."
Malloy and Pennartz have been friends for about four years and
have similar interests in surf culture and different art media.
"I would come in [the Surf Gallery] looking at art, and we started
talking about surfing together," Malloy said.
Malloy said a couple of years ago, he and Pennartz were surfing
together and came up with the idea for the Moonshine Festival.
"What if we could get all these people together for one or two
nights and make it more of a real experience for people?" Malloy
said. "Let's do something real and tangible [that] people can
experience."
Malloy said he doesn't think anyone has done anything like the
Moonshine Festival before -- "not at this level, maybe a small film
festival, [art exhibit] or concerts, but nothing like this."
Malloy said one of his favorite aspects about the festival is that
it takes risks, showcasing some emerging artists.
"People might not have heard of them, but they are amazing
musicians that are not as well-known," Malloy said. "[People will be
able to say], 'I saw those guys when they were nothing.'"
Some of Sunday's lineup includes Neil Halstead of the Mojave 3, a
band of surfers flying in from England to perform.
"Mainly people we had play for our films [will perform]," Malloy
said.
