One of the best known coastal holiday celebrations is the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade. The New York Times has called the event “one of the top ten holiday happenings in the nation”. This is a serious coastal style holiday celebration that has been an annual event for over 100 years!
Over a million people gather to watch boats ranging from kayaks and canoes to multi-million dollar yachts sail the harbor for the annual Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade. The holiday spectacle is hosted by the Commodores Club of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce. The parade actually runs five nights and runs approximately 2 ½ hours!
Boats are decked with holiday lights and Christmas music fills the air. You may even see a caroler or two! Rumor has it that some high rolling boat owners have spend as much as $50,000 to outfit their boats for the event. The route is 14 miles around the harbor and people view the parade from beaches, yacht clubs, restaurant and private homes.
The spectacle isn’t contained to the water. Many of the buildings along the parade route are decked out as well. Both boaters and home owners vie to be winners of the various parade awards.
Here are photos of some of last year’s award winning boats:
Homeowners get into the act as well by decking out their houses with some serious bling!
All photos via the Newport Beach Christmas Parade website.
Have you been to this wonderful event? Please leave a comment and let us know all about it.
