The Sessions Surf Festival brings live music, surf films and art to North County starting Saturday, Sept. 12, with an opening-day concert at Seaside Reef in Solana Beach.

The weeklong festival, formerly known as the Solento Surf Festival, runs Sept. 12-19 at venues in Solana Beach, Encinitas and Carlsbad. Tickets for the opening Music Sessions start at $85, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Founder Taylor Steele, a Solana Beach native and filmmaker, launched the festival as a three-day nonprofit gathering at La Paloma Theatre in 2021. Now in its sixth year, the event has expanded well beyond film screenings.

"Each year we just sort of kept adding stuff and making it bigger and bigger … The big jump this year is the music side of it," Steele told the San Diego Union-Tribune in August.

The Sept. 12 lineup at Seaside Reef, 2504 S. Coast Highway 101, runs noon to 10 p.m. and features Osees, Unwritten Law, Bully, Yoke Lore, MT Warning, Jack Shields and the Mojave Rush, and Emily Afton. VIP ticket holders get access to a beachfront sauna and cold plunge.

A free Beach Day follows on Sunday, Sept. 13, at Seaside Reef. The day centers on the Count Down Cup surf competition, with live music, food and drinks after the final heat. Admission is free.

Seaside Reef is a reef break along Coast Highway 101 known for fast, hollow left-hand waves that gained fame in 1990s surf films, according to Hoodline.

Film Sessions run Sept. 17-19 at La Paloma Theatre, 471 S. Coast Highway 101, Encinitas. The program includes surf films, filmmaker panels and live music curated by Steele. A highlight is the 25th anniversary screening of "Shelter," the 2001 surf film directed by Chris Malloy and Steele. Surfers Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Shane Dorian, Taylor Knox and Donavon Frankenreiter appear in the film. Malloy and surfers from the cast will join a post-screening discussion.

Free Art Sessions run Sept. 14-19, showcasing the work of 11 artists alongside live music and food.

Steele told the Union-Tribune in August that the September timing is deliberate, calling it "the locals' summer" after peak tourist season. He said his long-term goal is to grow the festival into a weeklong, multi-venue cultural event modeled on South by Southwest.

Full schedule and ticket information is available at sessionssurffestival.com. The Count Down Cup competition and Beach Day on Sept. 13 are free and open to the public.