Sun Diego held its Bash at The Beach AM Slam Finale earlier this month, and industry brands turned out in droves to support the event and one of their important retail partners.

Sun Diego sent SES photos from the festival, and we asked Sun Diego owner Dave Nash a few questions about the event.

What is the Sun Diego Am Slam and how long have you guys been doing it?

Sun Diego owner Dave Nash: The Am Slam is actually a pro/am surf and skate series we’ve been doing for 18 years. Our fourth and final event is held on the beach and in the parking lot at our Belmont Park location.

We always have live music, a surf competition, a skate competition and of course, our tent city. In our skate competition we always do buildouts of San Diego replica skate/street obstacles and this year we included the Gravity Tour with their vert ramp.

How was the turnout with consumers this year?

Dave Nash: We normally have a couple thousand people through the course of the day but this year we more than doubled that.

How did industry brands get involved in the event?

Dave Nash: Some of our brands sponsor the whole series and this year we had over 50 brands show up with their tents. The brands typically have games you can play for prizes, show their product offerings, and offer raffles, etc.

Some of the brands went above and beyond this year. For example, Malbon brought in a 30-foot golf simulator where participants could win prizes, Sun Bum brought its ice cream truck and its 25-foot high inflatable Sunny the Gorilla. Roark rented the Wonderbus (a double-decker bus) and sponsored three different bands to play on the open top deck.

Last but not least, Vans sponsored one of the three replica obstacles.

Any new features/additions to the event this year?

Dave Nash: This year we teamed up with Bones Loves Milk who brought the vert ramp and Kona Beer who sponsored the Beer Garden. Tommy Sandoval and Jamie Thomas were the masters of ceremonies for the street competition and Christian Hosoi did the same for the vert ramp competition.

We brought in Punk Rock and Paint Brushes art displays, and we also added a kids’ skate zone and provided helmets and coaching to kids who wanted to skate. Additionally we had face painting for the kids (or parents) as well as an athlete lounge where competitors could get massages.

I would like to give a big shoutout of gratitude to all our vendors who participated with tents, product, games, raffles and ice cream, which stoked out so many kids and adults that showed up. With a special shoutout to: Gravity Tour, Bones Loves Milk, two2four media, our celebrity MC’s Tommy, Jamie and Christian, Keen Ramps, Roark, Kona Beer, and Malbon!!