Ocean Fest, a Pender County-based festival, has gained national recognition "for its hard work and efforts to promote its festival’s mission," according to a news release. The awards were presented at the Southeast Festivals and Events Association (SFEA) annual conference. 

Ocean Fest, a nonprofit eco-friendly, surf, arts and music festival held in Surf City, was the recipient of two Silver 2023 SFEA Kaleidoscope Recognition Awards from SFEA in the categories of Best Event Video and the Green Initiative, the release stated.  

The awards attracted 123 applications from six states in 23 categories.

“The creativity and fresh ideas our awardees brought to their events, and the impact they made on their still-recovering communities, were incredible and inspiring. With reduced budgets and a fraction of the staff, they put together programs and events that surpassed previous industry standards, and their communities felt the change, too,” said Jamie McCormick, operations manager for SFEA, in the release.

The judges looked for originality, creativity, media impact, volunteer programs and the overall impact on the respective communities, according to the release. The Kaleidoscope Award categories "are diverse, covering just about every aspect of the industry, including vendors and suppliers."