A mural at El Porto Surf Shop recently got some fresh paint to celebrate World Cup games being held in Los Angeles, the owner announced this week.
The mural, called “The World Surfs El Porto,” is part of surf shop owner Woodrow Landfair’s push to make his store, which also houses Player’s Liquor, a gathering place as the World Cup continues, and the LA28 Olympics approaches.
The mural typically depicts the ocean waves with surfers floating among them, with the L.A. landscape seen down the coast from Manhattan Beach. A propeller plane that usually carries a flag that reads “local craft beer” now says “Welcome World Cup” as it symbolically flies over the painted waves.
The mural often gets minor makeovers, with phrases painted atop the waves changing from “Good Vibes” to “Awesome Lives Here” over the past year, for example. Now, it reads “The world surfs El Porto,” nodding to the soccer teams and fans from countries all over the globe who are uniting locally for the monumental sporting event.
“Welcome” is also painted so far in Spanish and Korean, on top of English, within the waves, according to the announcement, with 15 more languages to come.
El Porto Surf Shop, the announcement said, rented boards last year to surfers from every U.S. state and in more than 90 countries.
In the effort to anchor the store into a space for live music, storytelling, surf culture and other community events, Landfair contuinues to host a monthly First Thursday at El Porto event with live performers and food courtesy of local restaurants like Sloopy’s, Pancho’s, OB’s, Sharkeez and Fishbar.