River surfers in Calgary make plans for a downtown urban beach

The outdoor sports season in Calgary is finally flourishing with this week’s hot weather. Even those who enjoy water sports have a place to play, but they want to make it even bigger and better.

For the past few years, surfers have enjoyed the wave at 10 Street in downtown Calgary.

A feasibility study is now being done to see if the City of Calgary and the Alberta River Surfing Association (ARSA) can build a family friendly urban beach with surfing waves 35 metres wide.

“River surfing is in a really crazy exciting time,” said ARSA vice president Jacob Kelly Quinlan. “There’s more exploration of rivers to find these natural riverways, the potential for building waves like skate parks, and getting cities to build these things is incredible. It’s not just for surfers — it’s really for all the spectators on the side–and just to have a beach in Calgary would be a remarkable thing.”

If you walk or drive by the wave at 10 Street you’ll often see stand-up paddle borders, kayakers and surfers chilling out on a hot day.

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Jenna Henderson is the co-director of this summer’s not-for-profit Slam Festival, which has seven events running from June to August in Calgary and area. All the money raised will go to the ARSA to help fund the urban beach project.

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“We have an incredibly gorgeous and ambitious project of an urban beach coming up right here on 10 Street,” Henderson said. “It’s going to take a lot of community support. And it’s not just about the surfers, it’s about family and the community and the city in general, so we’re running a festival to start to tell that story to the city.”

Urban beach could be a reality in half a decade or less. For now, the wave at 10 Street is your only downtown surfing spot in the city.

“It’s pretty incredible to be able to surf in Calgary,” Quinlan said. “Calgary is my home; this is where my family lives. I love to travel to the ocean and catch waves, but to come home and have people down at the 10 Street wave enjoying it is really special.”

For more info on the Slam Festival, click here