From Surf to Steam at Gliding Barnacles
An incredible view of the peak at Praia do Cabedelo from the sauna window.
A few weeks back, the Sunna team - plus two dogs - went to our first festival: Gliding Barnacles in Figueira da Foz. Gliding is a brilliant festival I’d been to before. It’s a blend of longboard surfing, eclectic music, vibrant art, and general mischief. This year, we were proud to bring a little bit of fire and ice.
The journey to Gliding started back in August, when we met Beatriz and Eurico and began talking about how to bring the sauna. Even then, we knew we were tight on deadlines and logistics, with various deliveries due at the start of September. But we wanted to make it happen as a way to showcase the sauna, enjoy the festival, and hopefully meet a bunch of sauna enthusiasts in Portugal.
The actual journey to Gliding Barnacles began a few days before the festival, with a full-day drive from the warehouse where we built it to Figueira da Foz. At that point, the sauna and trailer had only done a few small drives around the car park, so we were pretty nervous about a 400 km trip along the motorway and through the national roads of Portugal. After getting stuck in a motorway toll lane, stopped at a police control, a wild border crossing (don’t ask), and many coffees and episodes of The Rest Is History, us and the sauna made it to the festival in one piece.
Setting up the sauna for the first time at an event gave us a lot to think about. We wanted to make the most of the incredible setting, with a view straight from the sauna onto the peak of the surfing action, but also give people space to relax between sessions, somewhere to change, store their belongings, and hang out. Our spot really felt right in the middle of things, and we wanted to keep it open and welcoming for anyone curious enough to stop by and get involved.
Most of the festival passed in a bit of a blur; long days, late nights, endless cleaning, and logistics to juggle but we did get to watch plenty of the surfing action too. Gliding Barnacles has a unique format, there’s no competition. They invite talented longboarders from all over the world, and the event becomes a showcase of incredible surfing. Lots of the local surfers from Portugal and Figueira know the wave well, but there were also people from Australia, Brazil, and Morocco surfing it for the first time. Watching them find their rhythm and master the conditions was a real joy.
Adrien and I both brought our boards to the festival. Did we get to use them? Nope. Not even once. Call it commitment to the work or bad planning.
After a few days, it was a real pleasure to start seeing some familiar faces, guests who came to the sauna every day. Some popped in after surfing, others first thing in the morning, and a few came with beers in hand, ready to party. Big shoutout to all the people who came back day after day. You made the whole experience more fun for us. Sometimes working at festivals can feel oddly isolating. You’re surrounded by people, but you don’t always get the chance to talk and get feedback, which can make it easy to lose perspective. Having a crew of about 30 people that we saw, chatted with, and got to know a little over a few days made the whole thing feel really special.
We’re looking forward to bringing the sauna to more multi-day festivals and events across Portugal this winter. If you run an event or work in that space, please get in touch.
To our friends at Gliding Barnacles - we hope to see you next year.
Harry