50th Bodega Bay Fish Fest to celebrate coastal fishing traditions despite salmon season closure

A two-day celebration of Bodega Bay’s fishing traditions will go on as usual this weekend, honoring the hardships and labor of the local commercial fleet, despite the setbacks of a curtailed crab season and a salmon fishery that has been shut down this year.

Long scheduled to mark the start of the keystone king salmon season, the annual Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Festival, now in its 50th year, will fill the air with live music and the shouts and laughter of thousands of people gathered harbor-side for fun and games.

Favorites like the Wooden Boat Challenge — the ultimate in do-it-yourself seamanship — are on tap for Saturday, along with touch-and-see tide pool exhibits, pony rides, face painting and other attractions for the kids; a classic car show; arts and crafts booths; Coast Guard and rescue helicopter demonstrations; wine tasting, beer, ale and all kinds of food; and a full slate of bands.

For the commercial fishermen and women in whose honor the festival is held, it may be a more sober version than most. The entire commercial and sport salmon seasons have been called off this year due to a substantial decline in chinook salmon stocks, and commercial crabbers have just been called off the water — the Dungeness crab season shortened due to concerns about whale entanglement.

But there will still be a traditional Blessing of the Fleet and decorated boat parade in Bodega Harbor at noon Sunday to celebrate the coastal town’s history as a fishing village and fishing as its foundational economy.

The annual event is also a fundraiser for community organizations, ranging from school groups to the local grange, firefighters to foster parents and food providers. Last year, more than $64,000 was donated.

With the fisheries in trouble and likely economic impacts in store for the area, helping local community groups is especially critical, festival chairman Josh Perucchi said.

“The nonprofits need more help than ever,” he said.

The festival runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Westside Park, 2400 Westshore Road, in Bodega Bay.

General admission tickets are $20 online or at the gate, $18 for those 65 and older and free for kids 12 and younger. Two-day passes are available for $30.

Free parking will be available along Westshore Road with the help of parking coordinators, Perucchi said.

A full schedule of events and other information is available at bbfishfest.org.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan (she/her) at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.