DANA POINT

Don’t tell the guests of honor that this year’s Festival of Whales doesn’t officially kick off until the weekend.

Although festivities for the 29th installment of this annual event don’t begin until Saturday, hordes of California gray whales have been spotted in the waters off Dana Point in recent weeks as they make their yearly pilgrimage from their spawning waters off Mexico to the Bering Sea.

“This year the whale sightings have been outrageous,” festival spokeswoman Heidi Hauff said. “I, of course, can’t guarantee people will see a whale, but there’s definitely a good chance.”

Locals and whale watchers will celebrate the arrival of these gentle, massive mammals during the next three weekends, Saturday through March 12, with a number of activities and fairs that event officials expect to draw 100,000 people to the Dana Point Harbor in the coming weeks, said Donna Kalez, festival co-chair.