The Capitola Beach Festival will return for its seventh year on the weekend of Sept. 27–28, bringing a full slate of free, family-friendly events to mark the end of summer, including paddleboard races Sunday morning and a lighted drone show Saturday night.
This year’s festival, presented with generous support from Joby Aviation, will kick off Saturday, Sept. 27 at 8 a.m. with the popular Little Wharf 3-Mile Run. From there, the day continues with a sand sculpture contest at 10 a.m., a cornhole competition at 11 a.m., and both a children’s art project and scavenger hunt at noon. Afternoon highlights include a live concert at 4 p.m., followed by the beloved Lighted Nautical Parade along Soquel Creek around 7 p.m. The evening will conclude with a Lighted Drone Show, sponsored by Lanai Financial Solutions.
The Sunday of the event begins early at 7 a.m. with a fishing derby on the Capitola Wharf, followed by paddleboard races launching from the beach at 8 a.m. At 10 a.m., guests can enjoy live ukulele music and a horseshoe tournament, with chalk art on the seawall beginning at 11 a.m. Rowboat race signups open at noon, and the race itself begins at 1 p.m.
Foam is gathered in preparation of building a float for the lighted parade.
The festival’s chief organizer, Laurie Hill, said that each year the festival tries to bring something new and that there is a lot of excitement for the paddleboard competition and the drone show. Helping put on this festival is an effort of love for her.
“I love the deep engagement with the Capitola community,” Hill said. “Once you get engaged doing something for your community, the rewards are just immense.”
Hill said about 10 volunteers show up regularly to meetings, and more volunteers show up on the day of the event to help. The festival carries forward the community spirit of its predecessor, the Begonia Festival, which charmed residents and visitors for 65 years with flower-decorated floats drifting down Soquel Creek. Hill was in charge of the Begonia Festival when it had to end.
“We sort of reframed the event,” she said. “We kept a lot of the same stuff. The Begonia Festival parade was a wonderful thing. When it was over, we thought, wouldn’t it be nice if we had a lighted parade that would take advantage of new things, new technology? What if it was recyclable? And a lot of that has played out.”
The result was the Lighted Nautical Parade, now in its seventh year, which continues the tradition of celebrating Capitola’s maritime heritage with barges decorated by volunteers. However, this year the barges were in disrepair. Hill said some even looked like they might sink. Thankfully, volunteers stepped up. Materials to repair the barges were donated by DeMattei Construction, and Joe Palandrani, Dave Arron, Keith Cahalen, Trevor Whitcomb, Shamne Carvalho,
TJ Welch, Rick Vento, Gerry Jensen, John Telsco, Dave Peyton, Nick Palandrani, and Matt Arthur jumped in to do the work.
“Because of their efforts, we will have the lighted parade,” Hill said.
Many events at the festival are free, though some require pre-registration like the paddleboard races. In addition to the thrill of competition, contest and race participants will be recognized with awards.
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Full event details and sign-up information are available at capitolabeachfestival.com.