Spectators lined the Port of Los Angeles’ Main Channel, stretching from San Pedro to Wilmington, on Saturday evening, Dec. 7, to watch the popular Holiday Boat Parade.
The 63rd annual extravaganza, which has become a holiday staple in the Harbor Areas, featured some 50 vessels of various kinds, shapes and sizes — all decorated and lighted for the festivities.
The parade included the port’s majestic tall ships, powerboats, sailboats and the harbor’s working craft. The event is co-sponsored by the Port of Los Angeles and the Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club.
Pedestrians viewed the cheerful spectacle from several waterfront spots along the linear channel as judges made their picks from several locations.
Riding on the vessels were community leaders.
For the port community, it wouldn’t be Christmas without the waterside celebration — during which decorated boats stretch about one mile, creating a spectacular view.
The tradition that goes back to the early 1960s.
Dubbed “Christmas Afloat,” the original parade was inspired by an informal group of boaters who decorated their vessels with Christmas lights and cruised down the channel shouting yuletide greetings to those on shore in December 1962.
More than 50 boats participated in a formalized San Pedro event the following year, as dignitaries and judges sat on a floating review stand to rate the entries, which included an old ferry boat, the “Sierra Nevada,” that was docked at the former Ports O’ Call Village.
There have also been some famous participants.
Actor Preston Foster — who starred as Capt. John Herrick in the televised drama “Waterfront” during the 1954-55 season — was among the judges in 1965. The series was often filmed in the Port of Los Angeles.
Cast members from the show “Leave it to Beaver” (1957-63) were the grand marshals in 1993 for the 30th annual parade. In 1994, actor Buddy Ebsen of “Beverly Hillbillies” and “Barnaby Jones” fame — and a Palos Verdes…
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