Kate Barratini, Justin Morris, and Madison Jung make the pilgrimage to Mazatlán
by Liz Wolfe | Contributing Writer
In the coastal Mexican city of Mazatlán, surfers from around the world gathered last month for one of longboarding’s most beloved international festivals: Mexi Log Fest.
Among the foreign crowd were three friends who call Folly Beach home. Local surfer, artist, and Drop-In Bar & Grill bartender Kate Barratini, joined forces with fellow creatives and surf lovers Justin Morris and Madison Jung to experience the magic of this year’s competition.
“Imagine a beach day where there’s lots of snacks and beers and there just happens to be a surfing contest that everyone’s a part of. That’s Mexi Log Fest,” says Barratini, who has competed in five of the 11 years that the event has existed.
Barratini said the city of Mazatlán—vibrant, accessible, and full of delicious seafood—along with the wave, a short point break at Playa Los Pinos, and a competition schedule that wrapped by noon each day, made the 2026 event stand out from years past.
“Everyone had time to free surf or relax and be in the city,” she said. “It was perfect.”
Morris, who often goes by the moniker Follyhood, was in his element shooting Mexi Log Fest for the fourth time as a professional surf photographer.
“I am always most excited to shoot the free surfs,” he said, referring to the non-competitive surfing that happens outside of the contest zone. “I always try to nail shots with people I have connected with before or surfers who I really enjoy watching surf.”
But it’s not just the free surfers who Morris enjoys capturing on film.
“The views in Mexico can range from cities to mountains to jungles and everything in between,” he said. “It is a dream to shoot with more [landscape] opportunities than we have here on Folly.”
Fellow photographer Jung may have been the novice of the group, having attended Mexi Log Fest just once before as a spectator, but she was the only member of the trio to both compete in and photograph the event.
She initially planned only to shoot the competition, but after meeting a judge in Sayulita who mentioned there were still openings, she decided to flip a coin to see what fate had to say.
“It landed heads, so I took that as my sign to enter,” said Jung. “Plus, I love to do things outside my comfort zone.”
And, despite a nerve-wracking first heat, Jung says she was eventually able to take a page out of Barratini’s book, relax, and have a good time.
“My goal going into this event was about expressing fun,” said Barratini. “I wasn’t trying to network or make a name for myself. I just wanted to enjoy the moment.”
Jung went on to describe her first heat as a rodeo where everyone was catching everything, cheering each other on, and laughing their heads off.
“I kept being like, ‘How in the heck did you put me in a heat with the most amazing women?’” she said.
Jung, who recently moved from Charleston to O’ahu’s North Shore, described a very similar experience.
“Getting to surf alongside all these incredible women was so inspiring,” she said, comparing the experience to seeing other artists’ different styles. “It makes you excited and creatively inspired all over again.”
Mexi Log Fest attracts some of the biggest names in longboarding and surf photography. When asked who she was most excited to surf and shoot with, Jung looked to her Folly family.
“I was really stoked to shoot alongside Justin and surf with Kate,” she said. “I haven’t spent too much time around Folly lately, and they’re two people I really admire, both in the water and behind the lens.”
She said watching how Morris saw and captured the same moments she experienced so differently really pushed her creatively.
“And there’s that saying that you are who you spend the most time with, and I think the same can be said for surf style, so I was really excited to spend time in the water with Kate,” said Jung.
Ever the artist, Barratini said one of her favorite memories from the event had little to do with the competition and everything to do with watching the sunsets with Morris and Jung, describing them in bursts of color “fading from a crazy orange and brownish-purple to a deep amethyst and twilight blue.”
And while the sun may have officially set on the 2026 Mexi Log Fest, the trip left these three Folly creatives with a newfound sense of joy, inspiration, and appreciation for the surf community they’ve found both at home and abroad.
