Our first anniversary of moving to California is September 8, 2017, which is to say, we arrived just after the annual Begonia Festival in Capitola. This year was the 65th and final iteration, our last chance to experience this local favorite. Labor Day weekend was uncharacteristically hot, though quite not as hot as the previous Wednesday, as recorded by Hachi (my car):

Santa Cruz was still the place to be; temperatures reached 114 degrees in the Valley. On the day of the begonia parade, the weather along Soquel Creek was comfortable enough. We biked over. The really cool people were on various watercraft, floating with the Floats. In past years, the best view was considered to be from a train trestle that crosses the creek quite near the end of the parade, but we had recently heard someone fell through when a tie gave way, and indeed officials were blocking access.

Begonias were brought to the US from various parts of the world, mostly by Europeans, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and flourished on California’s Central Coast. In the 1950s, when the Festival started, huge farms clustered in Capitola, Watsonville, and Santa Cruz. Over time, most production has moved to Mexico and South America for cost reasons, and the last local grower is closing this year. No more flowers, so no more festival.

The eleven floats were created by local charities and businesses, and were lovingly described over a PA system in detail, including the names of both occupants and creators and histories of their participation in the event. Here are some of our favorites.

Statue of Liberty and Bugs Bunny wait for their turn to head downstream to the judging stand, about 80 yards to the right.

The propeller on this plane actually turns. You can see a video on my youtube channel.

USS Lady. A small tall ship?

This pirate ship kept the floating audience alert by frequently firing a water cannon.

This was a nice way to cap our first year as Californians.