Check out CALIFORNIA LIVING™ with host Aprilanne Hurley’s 2014 Bodega Bay, Calif. “Stay & Play” Insider’s Guide Travel Show clip above to plan your getaway to Bodega Bay, Calif. April 26 – 27 to experience a taste of CALIFORNIA LIVING™ at its best during the 2 day “41st Annual Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Festival” extravaganza taking place n Westside Park, Bodega Bay, California.
Hosted by the Bodega Bay community, the “Fisherman’s Festival” runs 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. both days and offers an array of events and activities to include:
- Wine tasting booth featuring more than 25 Sonoma County wines and a beer booth with several local ales
- Food Venues to include barbequed oysters, local fish ‘n chips, clam chowder and a variety from food trucks
- Live music and entertainers perform on the main stage all day Saturday and Sunday
- Artisans and vendors from all over California and beyond offer a wide selection of arts and crafts
While in Bodega Bay, Calif., CALIFORNIA LIVING™ show host Aprilanne Hurley encourages you to “Make it a Birds Weekend” with a visit to CALIFORNIA LIVING’S featured filming locations made famous by Hitchcock’s 1960’s thriller “The Birds.”
Saturday April 26 will feature a golf tournament at The Links at Bodega Harbour. PLUS – in between boats visitors will be completely entertained by the festival’s traditional “Bathtub Races” during which entrants are encourage to create an “amusing” vessel that floats.
Children of all ages will get in on the fun too at “The Fisherman’s Festival” which provides a play area for face painting, spin paintings, games, a touch tank tide pool, and llamas (and guest pets) on parade. Click here for map to Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Festival site.
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.
Blessing the Fleet is Our History (Provided by BBfishfest.org)
Sunday’s Blessing of the Fishing Fleet is the highlight of the Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Festival. These solemn annual blessings had their start more than 50 years ago when the event was part of the “Discovery Days Celebration” and we had a thriving commercial fishing industry. Today it is part and parcel of the annual Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Festival weekend. Discovery Days commemorated the discovery of Bodega Bay by Lt. Bodega y Quadra while surveying these waters for the Spanish in 1775.
At the first “Discovery Days Celebration” event in 1958, some 17 festively decorated boats were blessed in the parade – appropriately led by Eddie, William and Steve Smith, members from the large local Miwok Indian family which began the commercial fishing industry in Bodega Bay in the 1920s.
Today, even with a declining industry, the traditional annual blessing of the fishing fleet is an important observance for the entire community and acknowledges the key role of those who farm the seas, often at great risk to themselves. Local clergy officiate at the Blessing and a flower wreath is cast upon the waters honoring the fishermen lost at sea.
The Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Festival is a 501(c)(3) California nonprofit charitable organization and is 100% volunteer-run by local community members (click here to volunteer). All proceeds from the Festival benefit Bodega Bay Area community services and in 2013 the Fisherman’s Festival distributed funds to these 23 local nonprofit organizations.
