By Bill Hoffman

Kelly Slater, regarded as the Tiger Woods of surfing, heads a sparkling contingent of past champions who will descend on Noosa next month for the 2008 Global Surf Industries Noosa Festival of Surfing.

The celebration of all styles of surfing and surfing culture has attracted not only many of the sport’s greatest ever competitors but also executives of many of the world’s leading surf companies, who will be here for the industry’s Tropic Surf Summit.

It will be the biggest gathering of surfing’s elite ever seen on the Sunshine Coast., the line up of surfers and industry executives rivalling a megawatt ASP world tour event.

Current world champion Mick Fanning will attend, with a festival highlight the Australian premier of 1977 world champion Sean Thomson’s new film Bustin’ Down the Door, an event that has attracted the largest number of the sport’s world champions ever gathered under one roof.

Slater, who has won eight world titles in a professional career that stretches back to 1990, will be joined at the festival by former women’s seven-time world professional champion Layne Beachley, the best female competitor of all time.

Also in attendance for the launch and the Tropic Surf Summit of surfing industry leaders will be four-time winner Mark Richards, three-time champion Tom Curren, 2001 champion C.J. Hobgood, 1978 champion Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew, 1976 champion Peter Townend and former four-time champion Mark Richards.