Boats decked in holiday finery sail Newport Beach harbor
For Newport Beach, the holidays are a time to deck out the city with lights and decorations, whether that be on or off land.
Vessels dressed up in their holiday finest sailed along the Newport Beach harbor Wednesday evening, marking the opening night of the 107th Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade.
The parade runs nightly through Sunday, showing spectators 85 boats wrapped in lights, ornaments, seashells, starfish and other décor.
“It’s truly a community-based event,” Newport Beach Mayor Diane Dixon said. “It takes hundreds of people to work on this. It’s a fantastic time for the residents, business owners and all the people of Newport Beach.”
The boat carrying this year’s grand marshal for opening night, Angels owner Arte Moreno, was one of the first to sail out for the parade.
“I’ve never been a grand marshal before, but I heard all I have to do is just smile and say ‘Hello,’” Moreno said with a laugh. “It’s a very nice honor.”
As the event withstood the test of time for over a century, it has easily become a tradition for many holiday enthusiasts to watch and even participate in.
Michael and Barbara Lawler of Newport Beach first watched the parade in 2010, after returning from a three-year journey around the world on their boat, Traveler.
After watching the holiday show for five years in a row, the married couple decided to register Traveler and be part of the parade pandemonium.
“It’s one thing to watch this parade go by, but it’s another to actually help make it happen,” Barbara Lawler said. “There’s so much beauty and pageantry in these nights. There’s really nothing else like it.”
This holiday season, their vessel was complete with a Snoopy house and people dressed up as Charlie Brown characters.
After years of attending the boat parade together as children, engaged couple Lauren Ritchie, 24, and Tanner Senne, 26, are taking their boat out for the first time in the parade.
“We both grew up in Temecula, but we drove every year to the parade,” Ritchie said. “We grew up around boats. I think to myself, ‘How could you not want to be a part of something like [the parade]?’”
They embellished their boat with lights of white and gold, their colors for their wedding in June.
Balboa Bay Club member Toby Bogard, 47, has watched the parade for 40 years. By the turn of the century, he started noticing an evolution among the parade boats.
“Now there’s brighter lights, screens, bands, dancing and music that you can hear a little clearer,” he said. “Technology has made a huge impact on the parade.”
As a young boy, Bogard said the parade’s pirate ship, complete with dressed characters and a canon, always stood out to him. Now, it’s the boat that his 10-year-old son Parker Bogard looks forward to seeing every year.
“It’s still around,” Toby Bogard said. “My son says it’s his favorite.”
The Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade will run nightly, 6:30 to around 9 p.m., through Sunday, beginning and ending off Bay Island.
