Huntington Beach events
throughout the year to enjoy. Welcome to event-driven beach destination
Huntington Beach. Got Beach? Yeah!
But HB also has plenty of events
throughout the seasons to keep your girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, wife
or family vacation just awesome. Let's get busy telling you about the
annual events calendar chock-full of fun for everyone.
JANUARY - Start off New
Year's Day with a
Pier Plunge. It's held each January 1 at the Huntington Beach Pier.
It's a morning to noon event with a small admission fee that provides
funds for some special cause. It is sponsored by a local group and is
attended by maybe 100 folks, give or take some. Parking is charged, but
is plentiful near the HB Pier and Pier Plaza. The best place to stay for
this event is either the Best Western, Hilton or Hyatt. They're all
within walking distance.
FEBRUARY brings a
sanctioned, qualifying marathon. It has changed its name but is held
every SuperBowl Sunday. It sells out, attracting around 15,000
participants. It's not quite the Boston Marathon but the ocean front
course is lovely. When former Huntington Beach Conference and
Visitors Bureau president Diane Baker fought to keep the event in town,
she received much scrutiny but finally won over local residents. Hats
off to a good deed, Ms. Baker!
MARCH is the
National Professional Paintball League competition tour that
launches usually in Huntington Beach, then heads throughout the US,
returning to San Diego for its finale most often. HB was initially the
home to this NPPL event but it was sold and now is operated elsewhere.
It's very popular and was an event that former mayor Pam Julien Houchen
fought to introduce to town. Not warmly received by all the community,
the merchants and hotels hardily welcome participants who bring
families, and seem to be a more affluent audience that spends money
locally.
APRIL is often some sort of
surfing competition, possibly an Easter Hunt in the park or other such
events. This is the month with lots going on and kind of the warm up
month to the summer of endless events that never seem to end, especially
if you work on the promotional end. April is a good month to travel and
still grab some discount rates in the US and especially at the beaches.
And in Huntington Beach, it usually is the start of the
Surfing Sundays Concert Series featuring surfing bands.
MAY means
Duck-A-Thon, for certain. It's been going on for a very long time.
It is a fundraiser for community healthcare, and is one of many such
rubber duck races throughout California. Sometimes in May the
Association of Volleyball Professionals hosts AVP Pro Beach Volleyball.
The organizers have almost pulled out several times because the beach
regulations do not permit charging for events on our public beaches. The
AVP managers say they need the ticket sales to make it worth their time.
JUNE is usually the month
in which the Concours d'Elegance car show is held in Central Park. I
love cars, so it's one of my favorites. By this time, the free
concerts are in full bloom such as the Surfing Sundays bands sponsored
by the Surfing Museum, the City of Huntington Beach Pier Plaza concerts
and the Huntington Beach City Band concerts at Central Park. Now, if
they could get all these concerts arranged so they didn't overlap, there
would be more mileage amongst the pack of bands entertainment produced
free of charge for the public.
JULY is the big daddy of
events. 4th of July Parade,
billed as the largest parade of its kind (there's a qualifier) west of
the Mississippi launches the month with a bang. Ever since the city,
city council and organizers fought to produce a fireworks show at the
beach beginning in 2004, the event has stuck. Gridlock occurs when you
try to depart the event. It can take over an hour to get out of the
region afterward. The other big event is the
US Open of Surfing and
Beach Games. There's a week and a half of activities but the time
tourists find most inviting is the last weekend with the surfing
showdown, skateboard and other activities in full play.
AUGUST features
Huck Finn
Fishing Derby for kids. It's really cute and loads of fun. When the
kids bring their fishing poles and dress up as two favorites characters
(Huck Finn & Becky Thatcher) from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, you
never know what kind of surprises await youth and adults seeking some
old-fashioned fun.
SEPTEMBER is the
Civil War Re-enactment in Central Park (Labor Day weekend),
Boardfest for girls, and the
Smooth Jazz all day concert in Central Park. While this is possibly
one of the busiest ends to the perfect summer, the big event is the
beach itself. Many years the Huntington Beach lifeguards have reported
their largest attendance day of the year falls on
Labor Day
Weekend.
OCTOBER launches
Oktoberfest in Huntington Beach, which actually begins in
mid-September. It is a crowd pleaser for beer lovers, chicken dancers
and sauerkraut fans. On October 31, there's Halloween and Trick-or-Treat
on Main Street event. It's supposed to be for kids, but everyone
attends.
NOVEMBER is somewhat laid
back.
DECEMBER features the
Huntington Harbour
Cruise
of Lights boat tours fundraiser. Visitors can hop on boats and ride
around the harbor for a show of home decorating lights. This event
goes up against some other events such as the Newport Beach Christmas
Boat Parade.
While we can't possibly list all
the events going on in HB, the above features some of the highlights. A
much better list can be found on the
Huntington
Beach Events calendar page. We continue the
conversation about events
throughout our site, and we also do a count on some of Orange County,
California's top beach events.
When visiting Huntington Beach and
attending events, travelers' preferences for accommodation vary wildly.
From the budget Beach Boulevard properties such as
Howard Johnson to a luxury resort,
Hyatt Regency HB Resort & Spa, the prices can range by several
hundred dollars with one room being approx. 3 miles from the beach and
the other room having direct beach access.
If the Huntington Beach hotels
don't suit your needs, check out
Newport Beach
to the south or
Long Beach to the north.
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