Nautical Parade the star of annual Capitola Begonia Festival
By Jessica A. York
jyork@santacruzsentinel.com @ReporterJess on Twitter
An elaborate lion float with a moving head makes its way underneath the Stockton Avenue bridge in Capitola Village on Sunday afternoon during the annual Begonia Festival Nautical Parade. (Kevin Johnson — Santa Cruz Sentinel)
An elaborate lion float with a moving head makes its way underneath the Soquel Creek bridge in Capitola Village on Sunday afternoon during the annual Begonia Festival Nautical Parade. (Kevin Johnson — Santa Cruz Sentinel)”
An elaborate lion float with a moving head makes its way underneath the Soquel Creek bridge in Capitola Village on Sunday afternoon during the annual Begonia Festival Nautical Parade. (Kevin Johnson — Santa Cruz Sentinel)
An elaborate lion float with a moving head makes its way underneath the Stockton Avenue bridge in Capitola Village on Sunday afternoon during the annual Begonia Festival Nautical Parade. (Kevin Johnson — Santa Cruz Sentinel)
CAPITOLA >> This year’s celebration may have sent the begonias to Broadway, but Capitola’s annual Begonia Festival remained a sort of homecoming for many of its attendees.
It had been 45 years since Christopher Hope, of Merced, had last seen the Capitola Begonia Festival. Hope, his wife, Sally, and their friend, Tom Hall, drove up for this year’s event because of Hope’s memories of the celebration during the summer of 1969, when he was just 13 years old and staying with family at Capitola’s Venetian Hotel. Hope, standing on a very crowded Stockton Avenue bridge, could not see the begonia-laden floats passing by, but said he could not wait to see photographs his wife was taking from a better vantage point.
“It was nothing like this back then,” Hope said of his youth. “We were young kids. We used to drop off the bottom of the trestle and swim in. After the parade, we would swim through the river and climb on the floats … It was pretty much more of a local thing back then, and they didn’t have to block off any streets.”
Capitola Begonia Festival Committee President Laurie Hill said one of the unique aspects of the annual celebration — drawing an estimated 10,000 onlookers — is its high level of community participation.
“We’ve got horseshoes and sand sculptures and movies and concerts, and it’s all free,” Hill said. “I love everything. The sense of community and how much you feel like apart of the community. And how many families come out to play.”
This year, with lower-than-usual water levels and higher plant growth in the Soquel Creek, participants in the festival’s largest draw, the Nautical Parade, had to be a bit more careful navigating their motor-powered Broadway-themed floats, Hill said. As she spoke, the “Puttin’ on the Ritz” float by Friends of the Windmill House moved cautiously beneath the Stockton Avenue bridge. Some of the seven contenders in the parade and contest ranged from the “Wizard of Oz” to “Grease.”
Heidi Otto, juggling begonia-bedecked daughters Josie Otto, 4, and Cassidy Otto, 2, said this was her second year attending the festival. Up and down the creek, bystanders made dismayed noises as someone or some part of a float fell in the water.
Otto, of Santa Cruz, said she enjoyed the Nautical Parade and all the kid-friendly activities such as the hat-making event and chalk festival.
A young parade participant waves to the crowds on Capitola Beach along Soquel Creek on Sunday during the annual Begonia Festival Nautical Parade. (Kevin Johnson — Santa Cruz Sentinel)
Chris Berthold and her sister drove from Auburn to see the festival and floating parade, convincing their brother, who was camping at Seacliff State Beach, to join them. Berthold said they were worried about traffic, but the group skirted the issue by using day-use parking at nearby New Brighton State Beach and walking on the railroad tracks.
“You can just walk right here and see the floats. It’s cool, very cool,” said Berthold, bobbing along to the lyrics of “Greased Lightning” booming from nearby amplifiers. “The music’s great. I may be 62, but I can still party.”
Begonia Festival committee member Mary Beth Cahalen said she was proud of the community involvement in planning and putting on the festival. Her daughter, Kaitlyn Cahalen, 22, suggested this year’s theme, and Harbor High School students helped with logistics and float performances, she said.
“This year we’ve been lucky, we’ve had help from Harbor High School students. It’s a great way for the kids to get into the community and see what it takes to put on this type of event,” Mary Beth Cahalen said. “This is really about the community. About everybody getting to love Capitola like we do.”
The Begonia Festival continues Monday with a fishing derby, children’s art project, and rowboat races. Visit begoniafestival.com for details.
2014 Nautical Parade Winners
First place: Phantom of the Opera, by Casa Finkel; Best Showmanship
Second place: Lion King by Riverview Rascals; Best use of Begonias
Third place: Puttin’ on the Ritz by Friends of the Windmill House; Mayor’s choice
Fourth place: Grease by Capitola Beach Company; Capitola Spirit
Best business participation: Capitola Surf and Paddle
Best use of costumes: Wizard of Oz by Capitola Creek Creatures
Most imaginative: Life is a Cabaret by Its Wine Tyme
Best use of participation: Little Mermaid by Gayles
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