Ventura County cancels 2020 Parade of Lights

OXNARD—The Covid-19 pandemic has taken a big bite out of Channel Island Harbor’s 2020 calendar of events. This year’s Parade of Lights, which is held every December in Oxnard, has been canceled, it was announced.

Ventura County Harbor Department staff said a decision to cancel the annual holiday-themed boat parade was made “due to the Covid-19 pandemic and concerns for spectators.”

The end-of-year boat parade is the latest harbor and boating event to be canceled this year, because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Celebration of Whales Festival, Fireworks by the Sea event to celebrate Independence Day, Concerts by the Sea and several car show events at the harbor have all been canceled this year because of the Coronavirus pandemic.

“Our team and boating community were very hopeful that the Holiday boat parade could take place,” Mark Sandoval, the Harbor Department’s director, said. “This event has always been very well attended along the harbor shores, and as a result the responsible decision for the health and safety of our community was to cancel this event.”

Sandoval added safety is the priority right now, and the harbor’s many events will return again.

“We are living through unprecedented times and it’s important that we all stay safe,” Sandoval said in a statement. “We are making progress as a County community, and it is imperative we continue to practice measures that allow our Harbor businesses to fully reopen and thrive again.”

Ventura County has hosted the Parade of Lights at Channel Islands Harbor for 54 years. This year’s boat parade was scheduled to take place on Dec. 12. The boat parade has been canceled before, generally due to “poor weather conditions, which risked the safety of boaters and spectators,” according to Ventura County Harbor Department staff.

Follow The Log for updates on other Christmas and holiday-themed boat shows.