Schedule of Events
Art-rageous Kids Art Festival
Spring 2025 // 10:00am-2:00pm ET
(specific dates & times are TBD)
The 35th Annual Artrageous Kids Art Festival was held at Dowdy Park in Nags Head. The annual Artrageous event is a free, family-friendly event that includes art activities, live music, dance performances, an artisan market, and food vendors. Surfing for Autism will have a booth with information and merch. We’ll share info for 2025 as soon as it’s available.
Silent Auction
Spring 2025 // 4:00pm-8:00pm ET
(specific dates & times are TBD)
Beyond donations and sales, our primary fundraiser is the silent auction. Jack Brown’s in KDH hosted us in 2024 and we’ll share info for 2025 as soon as it’s available. The silent auction puts you just one click away from sand bar jewelry, gift certificates, good eats, great places to spend the weekend, amazing art, Outer Banks experiences, merch, and more. You can help by donating items, volunteering to help, or placing a bid. It’s never too early to shop for Christmas. Just saying.
You can view items and register for the auction a couple of weeks before the live event.
Evening at the Aquarium
July 17, 2025 // 5:30pm-7:30pm ET
The NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island is open for SFA and SFA only! This one-of-a-kind experience, generously donated by the NC Aquarium, offers an exclusive experience for our families and volunteers to feel relaxed and valued. Come and enjoy all the aquarium has to offer within a sensory-friendly environment. Let us know you’re planning to attend when you register for the surfing event.
Participant Meet & Greet
July 18, 2025// 5:30pm-7:30pm ET
Families and participants are encouraged to attend the “Meet & Greet” at Jennette’s Pier in their upstairs banquet room. You’ll be able to check in and then head upstairs for a very casual meal while mingling with other families. (“Casual” is casual for the beach = sandals, t-shirts, and boardshorts are welcome.) This time is also a great opportunity for our families to relax, chat, and pick up some merch. We’ll end dinner with a short program and information about the surfing event.
When the program wraps up, siblings of participants will have an opportunity to go fishing on the pier FOR FREE. This sibling-only experience is one of the unique offerings of Surfing for Autism and provided by the kind folks at Jennette’s Pier.
While the siblings head out to fish, surfing participants can head down to the beach. This is an optional opportunity to get accustomed to the surfboard, practice standing on a board, and ask all the surfing questions you can think of. This will be ON LAND. We’ll get in the water on Saturday.
Surfing Event
July 19, 2025 // 8:00am-1:00pm ET*
Our surfing event pairs participants with volunteers who are surfers and therapeutic professionals for an hour of aquatic fun in the sun at Jennette’s Pier. When it’s time for the participant’s assigned heat, they’ll receive a lifejacket and meet their surfers and therapeutic professional. After transitioning to the water, they’ll spend time catching some of the best waves on the East coast… tides, current, wind direction, and seafloor conditions permitting. When their heat ends, they’ll transition to the beach and get some great pictures with their volunteers and anyone else who wants to get in the photo. We’ll also have merch available on the pier all morning.
* – depending on your assigned heat time
Halloween Sensory Night
October 2024 // Times TBD
This sensory-sensitive experience is provided to the community by our good friends at the NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island. Dimmer lights, softer music, and an awesome shark tank make this not-so-scary experience one your family shouldn’t skip.
12 Bars of Christmas
November 30-December 31, 2024 // Hours Vary by Location
The community-wide holiday experience brings together 12 local bars and 12 local charities through the “spirits” of Christmas. These local bars are re-themed for the holiday season complete with new decor, menus, and merch. You can purchase a “passport” to record your travels through the 12 bars during the window of November 30-December 31. Each location sells passports and donates the proceeds of those passports to a local non-profit. In 2023, “Mama-Klaus” (re-themed Mama Kuans) donated the proceeds from their passport sales to Surfing for Autism.
Sensory-Sensitive Santa
December 2024 // Register for Time*
The NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island is hosting Santa for a sensory-friendly conversation with the big man while he takes a few days off to hang out one the Outer Banks. It’s a holiday experience but just a little calmer. GF snacks and holiday activities will also be available. Registration will open here when we get closer to the event date.
* – Times based on availability.
