A Whale of a Time : Dana Point Festival Features Food, Films and a Street Fair

Three-year-old Sean Jameson sat along Santa Clara Avenue Saturday morning, waiting for a whale to come by. This encounter would go more smoothly than Sean’s first meeting with a whale on Friday, when he burst into tears during a whale-watching expedition off the coast here.

This whale--a man in a brownish-gray whale suit replete with barnacles--was Dana, the mascot of the city’s 23rd Festival of Whales.

Sean has come with his mother, grandmother and little brother to see the kickoff parade for the weeklong festival, which will feature such events as a whale film festival, a long board surf contest, tide pool tours and a kite-flying exhibition.

Farther down the parade route, Amy Butler of Aliso Viejo sat with her son, 22-month-old Charlie. “This is a nice way to entertain my son for the morning,” Butler said.

“They don’t give parades much anymore. I watch for this stuff because it’s great for Charlie.”

Charlie sat quietly in his stroller, sipping apple juice from a red bottle covered with blue-and-white sailboats and watching the bands and baton twirlers walk by.

Organizers estimate 20,000 people will converge on the city during the festival, with many coming to hop on a boat for an afternoon among Pacific gray whales swimming their way south to Mexico’s breeding grounds.

Hundreds had turned out in La Plaza Park in the bright sunshine Saturday for the first day of the “Street Faire,” which continues today and March 5.

Josh Froley, a 16-year-old Pacific Shores Private High School student, eagerly awaited his turn on the Spaceball, a contraption that spins the strapped-in rider around in circles.

“I’ve already been on it once before,” Froley said, jamming his hands into the deep pockets of his orangish-red baggy pants. “You kind of close your eyes. It’s pretty fast. It’s pretty fun.”

Handing over his change and a well-worn green baseball hat to his buddy, Froley sat down in the chair, buckling himself in. His excited grin became plastered on his face as he spun around and around, faster and faster.

Other people sprawled on benches, relishing hot dogs, Thai-Chinese barbecue chicken, pasta, sausages, or, the kids’ favorite, snow cones.

Some plunked their money down for jewelry, do-it-yourself spin art Frisbees, and sculpted fish perfect for display on a beachfront home’s coffee table.

Meanwhile, down at Baby Beach, dozens of little hands patted down wet sand at a sandcastle workshop. Exactly what the youngsters were building wasn’t clear, but their trips down to the sea to scoop more water into buckets of many colors and sizes seemed urgent. No letting this prized sculpture dry out and crumble.

Another sandcastle workshop is set for March 5, when the sandcastle pros also will show off their expertise at the sand sculpture contest at Doheny State Beach starting at 10 a.m.