North Lake Tahoe is set to celebrate its' own unique mountain paddle culture at the tenth annual Ta-Hoe Nalu, the oldest and longest-running paddle festival in the world,  August 12-14, 2016 in Kings Beach. The festival has become a cornerstone event for one of Tahoe's continually growing sports and the lifestyle and community it represents.

Ta-Hoe Nalu celebrates the 'aloha spirit' and the excitement of a growing community of stand up paddle boarding (SUP) around the world and in Lake Tahoe. Known as one of the best 'flat-water' paddle  locations in the world, Lake Tahoe is now a haven for the expanding paddleboard community. The three-day Ta-Hoe Nalu event has grown from a grass-roots start to a multi-event festival, complete with a variety of competitions, demos and clinics, board and accessory vendors, entertainment, great food, and thousands of spectators and participants.

See complete event schedule below.

The idea for the Ta-Hoe Nalu, and laregly for paddleboarding at Lake Tahoe, was spawned in 2005, when festival founder Ernie Brassard and his good friend Rick Thomas, from San Diego, tried paddling Rick’s Surf SUP on Lake Tahoe. They immediately they realized how cool it was to paddle Tahoe's clear and calm water and explore the lake's extensive shoreline. Tahoe's amazing clarity and beauty made the experience even more impressive.

"We thought back then that it would be fun to get some of our fiends to bring their big boards to Tahoe and do a paddle," says Brassard.

After mulling the idea around for a while, in 2007, Brassard met with Phil Segal, founder of Tahoe Paddle and Oar in Kings Beach, who was adding SUP’s to his retail store and had begun turning people on to the sport. After discussing the idea with Chris Thibaut, owner of Jake’s on the Lake restaurant in Tahoe City and friends Chris Carnevalle and Jay Valois who had both started paddling that year, Brassard decided to look into putting on a race.

The first Ta-Hoe Nalu race was took place on August 8, 2007. It was a seven-mile paddle from Jake’s on the Lake in Tahoe City to Captain Jon’s restaurant in Tahoe Vista. While Brassard and Segal drummed up interest in Tahoe, Rick and Bob got the word out in Southern California and Santa Cruz. On Friday August 7, 2007, a pre-race party was hosted by Jake’s on the Lake and by Saturday morning, thirty-four folks from San Diego, Santa Cruz and Baja, and other paddlers from around Lake Tahoe competed in what would become the first ever SUP race. Dave King, of Santa Cruz and Kim Wittman from Cabo San Lucas became the first ever SUP champions.

There are now thousands of paddle-focused races and events across the nation and the world each year. This year's Ta‐Hoe Nalu is expected to again attract thousands of spectators and competitors from all over the the globe. The three-day festival includes racing for all ages and skill levels, free demos and clinics for all, entertainment, exceptional food, and most of all, a vibrant community of enthusiasts - pros and amateur - that have discovered the fun and excitement of paddle sports.

New for 2016, the Ta-Hoe Nalu will include the Waterman's Challenge, an SUP, swim, and prone event, a sprint elimination challenge, a sand castle building contest and live music each day in the Kona Beer Garden.

Event registration is available online at www.tahoenalu.com.

Ta-Hoe Nalu 2016 Event Schedule

Friday August 12

• 2pm to 6pm Registration for all events
• 2pm to 6pm. Yoga, fitness & paddle clinics
• 2-4pm: The Butterfly Effect - Local paddler Lindsey Felschbrings the Butterfly Effect, a women's paddle movement, to Nalu.
• 3pm: GoPro Camera Clinic at the Go Pro Booth.
• 3-5pm: Paddle With The Pros - Jay Wild and Chase Kosterlitz will conduct a 2-hour comprehensive paddle clinic.
• 3-5 pm Manufacture free demos (Must sign up at Ta-Hoe Nalu information Tent)
• 2 to 8:30pm Food court and KONA Beer garden open with live music.
• 2 to 6pm Vendor village open to public

Saturday August 13

• 7am to 8;15am Registration for 10mile Distance and 2mile beginner race.
• 7:30am Opening Ceremony and announcements witha memorial paddle out in memory of Paul Speirer, Ta-Hoe Nalu staff member and friend.
• Dancers of Halau Hula ‘O Leilani will provide traditional dances of Polynesia to open the festivities.
• *NATIONAL ANTHEM SUNG BY CHRISTIAN HOLLINGSWORTH

• 9:00am Start of 10 mile Distance Race

• 10am start 2 mile Beginner SUP race

• Awards  & Raffle at finish of race
• All day Demos and Clinics (Must sign up for Demo’s at information booth.
• Exhibitor / Vender village open from 8 to 4pm daily

ZINKA Face Painting Contest:

• 10:00 am at ZINKA Booth
• Groms 12 and under
• Winners announced during the awards for the Grom Race

• Highlighted a local retail village open from 8 to 4pm daily
• 11:30am Start of Grom Race (ages 12 and under)
• Awards and raffle after finish

1:pm Start of the Waterman’s Challenge

• Awards after race finish

• 4pm Announcements of Local evening events.

Sunday, August 14

• 7am Registration for the 5 mile Open Race (OC6, OC1,SUP, Prone )
• 8am Announcements
• 9am Start of the 5 Mile Open Race
• Awards and Raffle at finish of Race

• All day free SUP demos (Must sign up for Demo’s at information booth)
• Exhibitor / Vendor village open from 8 to 4pm daily
• Highlighted local retail village open from 8 to 4pm daily

• 11:00am Start of Big Brother / Big Sister’s Sand Castle building Contest
• 11:30 am Start of Free Team Matt Race (8 person teams) 

• 1 pm Start of 4 person Team SUP Slalom Relay Race (mixed Adult and Grom teams)
• Awards at finish of Race

• 4pm closing ceremony

Event registration and more information is available at www.tahoenalu.com.