DANA POINT : It’s No Fluke, It’s Festival of Whales

Opera at a whale festival? How about big band music, or a sandcastle contest?

Those are just a few of the events that will take place during the next three weekends as part of the 20th annual Festival of the Whales to be held in and around Dana Point Harbor.

Of course, watching the migratory California gray whales on their way to Mexico is the top attraction. Whale watching boats will leave the harbor every hour during the festival. Tickets for whale watching are $10 for adults and $6 for children under 12.

But along with the whales, there are concerts, tide-pool and bird walks, films and art shows. Harpoon Henry’s, 34555 Street of the Golden Lantern, is offering a film festival free from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day throughout the festival.

“The festival started out with the whale watching, but then when the Orange County Marine Institute began (in Dana Point), we started expanding it to something else,” said Dee Bower, a festival spokeswoman. “It’s intended not as much as a circus (but) as an educational experience.”

Highlights this weekend include operas such as “The Pirates of Penzance,” “Billy Budd,” and “HMS Pinafore” shown from a 70-inch laser disc at the Dana Point Youth and Group Facility, 34451 Ensenada Place. The Capistrano Valley Symphony will present four concerts, two at the Capistrano Bay Park and Recreation Center on Saturday and two at the nearby Ritz-Carlton hotel on Sunday.

A free shuttle to the event locations will operated from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.

For a taped list of events, call (714) 496-1094. The festival is sponsored by the county and the Dana Point Harbor Assn.