Festivals In Eureka, California

In July we have something called Blues By The Bay which again draws in some really significant blues artists and it's in a beautiful location on the edge of Humboldt Bay. It's always nice weather that time of the year and people sit in the grass and listen to the blues and dance or take their boat out and just throw out an achor and listen to the music.

The biggest and most famous music festival we have is called Reggae on the River. That's in southern Humboldt County and draws absolutely world class artists and thousands of people. It's considered one of the premier reggae festivals in the world.

We were the first to have what is called the Great Arcadia Kinetic Ferndale Sculpture Race. It has been going on for 37 years now. Its started by a gentleman named Hobart Brown who is still a practicing artist in Ferndale. To compete you have to have a vehicle, which is a work of art. It's a sculpture that has to be artistic and there are all different themes but this vehicle has to be human powered and has travel over city streets, sand, mud and water. They go on a huge three-day race from Arcadia to Eureka then down to the south bay and on to Ferndale. There are all kinds of zany rules about things you can and cannot do and all the artists are trying to out do each other. They have created similar races in southern California, Oregon, Australia, and Poland. All those folks came here and learned about it first.

In July Fortuna has a great rodeo and they also have an event called Fortuna Autorama, which is a classic car show where people come from all over with their cruisers and beautifully restored vehicles. They also bring tractors and other farm equipment.

We have the Humboldt County Fair in Ferndale, which has been going on continuously for 106 years now. It's what would you expect from a little rural county fair. There is actually livestock judging and people making blackberry as well as rides and carnival games too. That goes on for at least 10 days in August and September.

There is always something happening here - starting with May right through this time of year, there is not a weekend that goes by without some event. For example, tomorrow I have to decide whether I'm going to the Spider Bay motorcycle show or the Mountain Bluegrass Festival or Humboldt Park's Rummage Sale. The great thing about small communities is that everything is so accessible and there are never huge lines or a lot of cost involved. It's just folks having fun.