A Route 66 themed boat cruises by during the 55th annual Huntington Harbour Boat Parade Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
A motorcycling Santa boat cruises by during the 55th annual Huntington Harbour Boat Parade Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
A boat cruises by in a time-lapse photo during the 55th annual Huntington Harbour Boat Parade Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
An icy looking boat cruises by during the 55th annual Huntington Harbour Boat Parade Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Boats pass each other adding to the beauty during the 55th annual Huntington Harbour Boat Parade Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
A Route 66 themed boat cruises by during the 55th annual Huntington Harbour Boat Parade Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
The Grand Marshall’s yacht cruises by during the 55th annual Huntington Harbour Boat Parade Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
A desert themed boat cruises by during the 55th annual Huntington Harbour Boat Parade Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Santa waves from a sailboat during the 55th annual Huntington Harbour Boat Parade Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
A house shines bright behind a boat during the 55th annual Huntington Harbour Boat Parade Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
Spectator Paul Glassford, center, of Canada is in town because his cousin is in the 55th annual Huntington Harbour Boat Parade Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
The Marina high school viking ship Valhalla is rowed out captained by woodshop teacher, William “Ragnar” Meade and 12 of his woodshop students wearing viking helmets during the 55th annual Huntington Harbour Boat Parade Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017. This is the second year the viking ship has participated. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
The Marina high school viking ship Valhalla is rowed out captained by woodshop teacher, William “Ragnar” Meade and 12 of his woodshop students wearing viking helmets during the 55th annual Huntington Harbour Boat Parade Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017. This is the second year the viking ship has participated. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
A boat cruises by the Huntington Harbor Yacht Club during the 55th annual Huntington Harbour Boat Parade Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
A boat with inflatable snowmen cruises by during the 55th annual Huntington Harbour Boat Parade Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
The Marina high school viking ship Valhalla is rowed out captained by woodshop teacher, William “Ragnar” Meade and 12 of his woodshop students wearing viking helmets during the 55th annual Huntington Harbour Boat Parade Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017. This is the second year the viking ship has participated. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, Contributing Photographer)
The popular Huntington Harbour boat parade made its 55th annual tour through the canals and waterways over the weekend.
With author, Orange County Register columnist and Harbour maven Eva Kilgore in the lead boat as the grand marshal, this year’s edition of the parade featured more than 60 entrants. That made it the largest staging of the event in several decades by Kilgore’s estimation.
Crowds in the thousands showed up at popular viewing sites such as the Huntington Harbour Yacht Club, Peter’s Landing, parks and bridges to watch the holiday procession of brightly lit boats. And parking, predictably, was hard to come by.
This year’s theme was a musical tribute to “Route 66” the song first made popular by Nat King Cole in 1946 and covered countless times since in numerous genres.
The parade is a lead-in to the popular Cruise of Lights tours in successive weeks, which benefit the nonprofit Philharmonic Society of Orange County. The Society supplies youth music education programs to schools throughout Orange County.
