FESTIVAL : Pier Day Celebration Is a Thank-You Event

For the past four years, mid-May has been pay-back time for the merchants clustered in the historic neighborhood around the Newport Beach Pier.

This year is no different. As a sort of thank-you gift to the folks who have patronized their businesses over the past year (and even to those who haven’t), the Newport Pier Merchants Assn. is sponsoring the fourth annual Newport Pier Day on Saturday, a free all-day celebration of the pleasures of their neighborhood.

“We wanted to give something back to the community,” said Marcia Dossey, the president of the association, “so we got together and started this little non-commercial event. And it’s just gotten bigger every year. We’ve had 5,000 people come in the past, and we think it’ll go beyond that this year. It’s a day for family fun, and it’s also educational. You can come and learn about all sorts of things.”

The day will begin, Dossey said, with a pancake breakfast at 8:30 a.m., and the activities will continue throughout the day with a classic car show, a fire truck and Harbor Patrol boat display, an open house at the pier lifeguard station, a mock ocean rescue, a junior surfing and bodyboarding competition and an antique bicycle display. Also on tap are a surfboard and kayak display, surf music by The Fabulous Nomads, face painting, free fingerprinting and balloons for children, and prize drawings.

In recent years, Dossey said, buildings in the neighborhood have undergone a series of face lifts, and the Pier Day is an opportunity for those who haven’t seen the latest look of the area to get reacquainted.

“It’s something for people to do who want to get away, to come back and remember how it used to be,” she said. “The pier itself is also much cleaner than it has been in the past.”

Parking is available in lots adjacent to the pier.

* What: Newport Pier Day.

* When: Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

* Where: Area next to Newport Pier, near Balboa Boulevard and McFadden Place.

* Whereabouts: Exit the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway at Newport Boulevard. Continue south on Newport Boulevard (becomes Balboa Boulevard south of Coast Highway) to McFadden Place and pier.

* Wherewithal: Free.

* Where to call: (714) 673-7300.