The organizers describe the parade as "the non-profit Huntington Harbour Philharmonic Committee's way of saying 'thank you' to the Harbour residents for decorating their homes." In other words, the boats are the thank-you and the houses are the reason for it. The lights along the channels each December come from the people who live on and near them, and the 64th annual Huntington Harbour Boat Parade runs on a schedule that opens well before anyone casts off.
The parade itself is Saturday and Sunday, December 12 and 13. Home entries are due Monday, November 30. That's the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend. If you plan to have your house judged this year, the decorating deadline lands before most of December's other plans do.
The Harbour's December, Date by Date
Below is the 2026 schedule as published by the parade organizers and by Visit Huntington Beach:
- Monday, November 30: Home entries due for the Boat Parade.
- Tuesday, December 1: Boat entries due.
- Saturday, December 12: Parade night one, streamed live on Facebook starting at 6:00 p.m. People's Choice voting for boats opens during the parade.
- Sunday, December 13: People's Choice voting closes at 8 a.m., the virtual awards presentation streams at 11 a.m., and the parade runs its second night.
- Saturday, December 19, through Wednesday, December 23: Cruise of Lights narrated boat tours, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
The 2026 theme is "America 250 Music / To The Moon & Back," and the Grand Marshal is Norman Huniu. The organizer's site also says the parade goes on rain or shine.
The order of these dates matters because the decorated homes are judged as part of the parade and also make up most of what Cruise of Lights passengers see a week later. So a house lit by the end of November does its work across both events.
Off-Water Homes Compete in the Same Categories
You don't need a dock to enter. The 2026 Boat & Home Entry Form splits house awards between waterfront and off-water homes, and both groups compete in the same seven categories. Condominiums and townhomes on the water have their own, shorter list.
| Award | Waterfront homes | Off-water homes | Waterfront condos and townhomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweepstakes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Best Tribute to Theme | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Most Beautiful | Yes | Yes | No |
| Judges Special Trophy | Yes | Yes | No |
| Best Tribute to the Holiday Season | Yes | Yes | No |
| People's Choice | Yes | Yes | No |
| Most Religious | Yes | Yes | No |
For a house on an interior street, this means a full slate of seven awards to compete for, judged among other off-water homes rather than against a waterfront display that boats pass at arm's length. For a waterfront condo or townhome owner, there are two awards to aim for, and Best Tribute to Theme is the one that takes this year's "America 250 Music / To The Moon & Back" theme into account.
The form asks entrants to choose an individual or group entry for a home, and the same individual or group choice applies to boats. The only fee on the form is $300, for boats that include commercial references. Boats compete across a much longer list that includes Sweepstakes, Best Animation, Most Whimsical, Best First Time Entry and Award of Excellence. The organizers say outright that "one of the best ways to see it is to be in it by entering your boat."
Run by Neighbors, Not a Marina
Who puts all this on explains why homes come first. The organizers point out that the Huntington Harbour Boat Parade "is not produced or managed by a marina company, City, or Chamber of Commerce. It is an entirely volunteer effort."
The volunteers belong to the Huntington Harbour Philharmonic Committee, which has six groups: Admiralty, Islander, Marina-Windjammer, Sandpiper, Seal Beach and Trinidad. Several of those names will sound familiar to anyone who lives around the Harbour's islands. The committee supports the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, and the organizer's site says the Society's committees offer more than 1,500 presentations by professional musicians and trained docents at no charge to every public and private school in the county. Residents interested in joining a group can call (714) 840-7542, according to the same page.
The committee's funding comes from a separate event. The organizer's site names the December Cruise of Lights as "our main funding project," and that same passage asks Harbour neighbors to decorate their homes and enter the decorating contests "so that we can carry on the spirit of the Cruise of Lights." A lit house helps carry both the free parade weekend and the paid tours that fund the music programs.
Parade Weekend From the Shore
On parade nights, the committee directs spectators to the beaches. The organizer's route page says "Public viewing areas only at beaches--parking is extremely limited," and its homepage notes that beach viewing areas "fill up quickly." The public parks around the Harbour include Davenport Beach Park, also known as Mother's Beach, along with Humboldt Beach, Trinidad Park and Seabridge Park, all listed in the City of Huntington Beach parks directory.
If you live close enough to walk, you avoid the parking problem entirely. For everyone else, the organizers offer two other ways to watch:
- The live route tracker at hbraces.org/hhboatparade, linked from the parade's own route page. HB RACES describes itself as a volunteer auxiliary communications service whose members work on behalf of the Huntington Beach Fire Department and the city's emergency management office.
- The Facebook livestream at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 12, with boat People's Choice votes cast by "liking" a boat's displayed number in the parade's Facebook album until 8 a.m. Sunday.
The tracker is the more practical of the two. With it, a resident can stay home on an off-water street and head to the nearest beach only once the boats get close. The People's Choice vote also rewards the people watching online, since anyone following the stream can vote.
A Week Later, the View From the Water
The Cruise of Lights puts passengers on the water, looking at the decorated homes. Visit Huntington Beach describes it as a 50-minute narrated tour through the Harbour's waterways, past "thousands of lights and animated displays on brightly decorated homes, docks, decks and boats."
The 2026 details, as listed by Visit Huntington Beach:
- Dates: December 19 through 23
- Hours: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
- Tickets: $28 for adults, $20 for children ages 2 to 12, free for children under 2
Tickets are sold through the Cruise of Lights ticket page. Parking follows its own routine. The Cruise of Lights FAQ sends most guests to the rear lot of Huntington Harbour Mall at 16889 Algonquin Street, where a five-minute shuttle runs to the boarding area at the Huntington Harbour Yacht Club. Guests with a California disabled placard can go directly to the Yacht Club at 3821 Warner Avenue.
Proceeds support the Philharmonic Society of Orange County's Youth Programs, which Visit Huntington Beach says are offered at no charge to Orange County schools, both public and private. The committee's own site adds that part of its fundraising goes directly to music programs at nearby schools.
Taken together, the five tour nights are the reason a house decorated by November 30 is still worth keeping lit through December 23. Waterfront homes are what the tour passes, and each ticket sold helps pay for the music programs the parade's volunteers support.
Every December, the homes along these channels show what the Harbour is like as a place to live. At KND Real Estate Group, we work with Huntington Harbour owners year-round, and many of the questions we get start with which streets and channels draw the most attention, at the holidays and in every other season. If you'd like to know where your waterfront or off-water home stands in today's market, ask us for a free home valuation.
