Bodega Bay Fish Fest this Weekend

The 38th Annual Bodega Bay Fish Fest is happening this weekend, April 30 and May 1, 2011. Here are some details from their website:

The Bodega Bay community will celebrate its 38th annual Fisherman’s Festival packed with music, food, and entertainment. A favorite attraction is the wine tasting booth, featuring more than 25 Sonoma County wines. Food booths have something for every pallet from lamb or oyster barbeque to local fish and chips, to vegi burders, salads, and sandwiches. Live music and entertainers perform on the band stage all day Saturday and Sunday. Artisans and vendors from all over California and beyond offer a wide selection of arts and crafts.

The festival has its origin as a celebration of the start of the Salmon fishing season and the annual Blessing of the Fleet. Saturday will feature a golf tournament at Bodega Harbour (707-875-3538) and at the Festival site itself a wooden boat challenge where participating teams build a vessel and then compete in a boat race.

Sunday morning will feature the blessing of the fishing fleet, when decorated boats parade out of the harbor to receive a blessing from local clergy. A flower wreath is cast upon the waters honoring the fishermen lost at sea. The festival is a great venue for kids, with a play area for face painting, spin paintings, games, free kit lessons, pony rides and llamas (and guest pets) on parade. There will be a drawing for raffle prizes from local merchants.

The Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Festival is a nonprofit organization run by local community volunteers under the leadership of chair Ginny Bassi. All proceeds of the festival benefit local service and volunteer organizations. For more information call the Bodega Bay Visitors’ Center at 707-875-3866.

Our family has really enjoyed going to this community event over the last couple of years. You can view our previous reports and photos here and here. And the weather this weekend is supposed to be spectacular!

Fish Fest Fun in Bodega Bay

We had a blast at the Fisherman's Festival on Saturday! I heard they had a record attendance. The entire west side of Bodega Bay harbor was lined with cars, while thousands of people and dogs streamed in to join the festivities in Westside Park. The weather was gorgeous, sunny with a few clouds and a slight coastal breeze.

Highlights of our day included the Wooden Boat Challenge and ensuing boat race, the Pet Parade, delicious fish & chips, wine tasting (25 local wines to choose from), and rockin' music from the Unauthorized Rolling Stones.

Pictures speak louder than words and my husband took more than a hundred! Here's a visual chronicle of the day, starting with the Wooden Boat Challenge. Each of the 17 teams had to build a wooden boat in three hours, then race it around a short course in the harbor. (You can click to enlarge the photos.)

Boat made by Bodega Bay Firefighters Association.

Bodega Bay Fire Interns.

Central Victory, 2009 champions.

Wasabi Rockets, 2007 champions.

At 1:30, boat builders lined up for the exciting race. Because they had staggered starts, I wasn't sure who won. If you know, please leave a comment!















There were dozens of arts and crafts booths and one of my favorites was Save the Tails, featuring unique handmade "fish tail" totes and purses made by local Bodega Bay artist Susan Alloway.



Check this out, it's her Sonoma Coast bag! Mountains across the top, the Russian River runs down the middle, you can see apples representing the Sebastopol/Occidental orchards on the right, the ocean on the left, grape vineyards throughout, and of course beautiful Bodega Bay at the bottom.

These seal puppets were popular with adults as well as the kids.

The U.S. Coast Guard was there along with Coastie.





We were looking forward to the Pet Parade at 2:30 but it never materialized while we were there. We saw lots of beautifully groomed, well-behaved dogs and owners wandering around the starting area but we finally gave up at 2:50.

Some people think dogs look like their owners.

This huge, gorgeous great pyrenees patiently posed for a never-ending stream of photographers.

I loved these long-haired chihuahuas.



We wondered if this guy spent too much time at the wine tasting tent!

We loved the music of the Unauthorized Rolling Stones! They played everyone's favorite Stones hits, and the lead singer not only looked like Mick Jagger, he totally had his gestures and dance moves down.


Our much-appreciated emergency service providers were a big hit, but still on call. At around 1:30, a sheriff’s helicopter was about to land in the Fisherman’s Festival, but instead was called up the coast to rescue a scuba diver who was in trouble!









This was the 37th annual Fisherman's Festival. Staffed by volunteers, the Fish Fest is Bodega Bay's primary annual fundraising event for a number of community organizations.

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Bodega Bay Fisherman's Festival Coming Up!

There's a lot of buzz about about this year's Fisherman's Festival! This annual community fundraising extravaganza will be held April 17 & 18 10am-5pm at Westside Park in Bodega Bay. Everyone's talking about it, I think it's going to be huge this year. Tons of local residents and businesses are either volunteering or donating something, or both, it's amazing. They have a website and a Facebook page with more than 1,000 friends. Here's some of their promotional copy:

The Bodega Bay community will celebrate its 37th annual Fisherman’s Festival packed with music, food, and entertainment. A favorite attraction is the wine tasting booth, featuring more than 25 Sonoma County wines. Food booths have something for every pallet from lamb or oyster barbeque to local fish and chips, to vegi burders, salads, and sandwiches.

Live music and entertainers perform on the band stage all day Saturday and Sunday. Artisans and vendors from all over California and beyond offer a wide selection of arts and crafts.

The festival has its origin as a celebration of the start of the Salmon fishing season and the annual Blessing of the Fleet. Saturday will feature a golf tournament at Bodega Harbour (707-875-3538) and at the Festival site itself a wooden boat challenge where participating teams build a vessel and then compete in a boat race.

Sunday morning will feature the blessing of the fishing fleet, when decorated boats parade out of the harbor to receive a blessing from local clergy. A flower wreath is cast upon the waters honoring the fishermen lost at sea. The festival is a great venue for kids, with a play area for face painting, spin paintings, games, free kit lessons, pony rides and llamas (and guest pets) on parade. There will be a drawing for raffle prizes from local merchants.

The Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Festival is a nonprofit organization run by local community volunteers under the leadership of chair Ginny Bassi. All proceeds of the festival benefit local service and volunteer organizations.


Our family went to the Fisherman's Festival for the first time last year and LOVED it! We posted a write-up and photos here.

Fun at the Fish Fest!

What a beautiful day at the Fisherman's Festival in Bodega Bay! After a month of high winds and chilly temperatures, we really lucked out and today's weather couldn't have been better. It was sunny and warm with only an occasional slight breeze. Staffed by volunteers, the Fisherman's Festival is Bodega Bay's primary annual fundraising event for many worthy community organizations.



It was the first time our family attended and wow, what a blast! The place was packed, and no wonder. Live music, wine tasting, seafood, crafts booths, and more, all right on gorgeous Bodega Harbor with the rolling hills in the background. It was a postcard setting. (You can click on the photos to enlarge them.)


I think the highlight of the day was the Wooden Boat Challenge. Each team had to build a wooden boat in three hours, then race it around a short course in the harbor. Each team had four members or less and received a basic package of building materials.



There were teams with names like the Wasabi Rockets, Buoys in the Hood, and Team Whaleship, representing the Bodega Bay Fire Dept., Santa Rosa Firefighters, US Coast Guard, UC Davis Marine Lab and other local organizations. It was wild! One boat sank. Another one couldn't row straight, crossed directly in front of oncoming boats, and caused at least one collision.



The food was delicious. The fish and chips were fantastic and drew long lines of hungry customers to prove it. The barbecued oysters were also a big hit.




Here's our realtor extraordinaire, Ed Vail, of Coldwell Banker Coast Properties. A dedicated volunteer, Ed has shucked thousands of mouth-watering oysters for this fundraising event over many, many years. Not to be outdone, his wife Jane runs the popular fish & chips booth next door.


Yes, this dog is wearing shades! "Mugsy" is on the shoulder of The Pet Guy who sells all kinds of handmade pet gear under the name of Bite Me Pet Products.


UC Davis Marine Center had a booth displaying sea life from nearby tide pools.


A local llama company had several of these striking animals at their booth. The owners demonstrated how to make the fur into yarn.


The US Coast Guard presented a dramatic demonstration of saving someone from the water. Can you see the guy with the fins jumping down from the helicopter? The "victim" in the water is off to the right.



The live music was fantastic. The Tomales High School Rock Band blew everyone away with their version of Oya Como Va.


The Seven Deadly Zins was an excellent band, the crowd loved them. And there was so much more! Our camera's card filled up before the pet parade so we didn't get any more photos. But we saw tons of adorable, well-behaved dogs. My husband shot this one with his cell phone:


And tomorrow morning, the big event will be the blessing of the fleet and a boat parade. And over at The Links at Bodega Harbour, they're holding a Fisherman's Festival Golf Tournament. What fun!