Holiday Parades Abound Saturday

Christmas parades in Oxnard, Ventura and Camarillo will usher in the county’s weekend Saturday.

Oxnard’s 2nd Annual Children’s Christmas Parade will begin at 11 a.m. in front of the Oxnard Library at 251 S. A Street. For more information, call Heritage Square at 483-7960.

The 32nd annual Camarillo Christmas Parade begins at noon at Las Posas Road and Temple Avenue. Organizers are predicting a crowd of more than 5,000 for the extravaganza, which will include floats celebrating the theme of Christmas memories, 20 high school bands, the Camarillo white horses and about 400 children from the YMCA.

For more information, call the parade hot line at 484-3004.

Beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, Channel Islands Harbor will offer 10 tons of snow shipped in for children to enjoy. The snow will be set down near the Whale’s Tail Restaurant at 3950 Blue Fin Circle.

Later that evening, the Channel Islands Harbor 28th Annual Parade of Lights starts at 7 p.m. with boats chugging around the harbor docks decorated in a “back to the ‘50s” theme. For more information, call the Channel Islands Harbor Assn. at 985-4852.

Also at 7 p.m., San Buenaventura Mission in Ventura will sponsor its annual Our Lady of Guadalupe procession from the convent at 211 E. Main St. to the nearby mission. The procession will be followed by Mass at the mission. For more information, call the mission at 643-4318.

Meanwhile, Cal Lutheran University’s Saturday School, which teaches African American children about their cultural heritage, is helping to put on a Kwanzaa celebration.

Kwanzaa, Cal Lutheran officials say, began in Africa to celebrate the first fruits of the season. It is traditionally observed for seven days, from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1.

Cal Lutheran will hold the celebration Saturday, with lectures, songs, music, dancing and poetry performances, and a traditional African feast and ceremonies honoring ancestors.

The Kwanzaa celebration runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the university’s Preus-Brandt Forum, and is free and open to the public. For more information, call Cal Lutheran at 493-3302.