With floats, aerial flyovers, live entertainment, and the always popular free public tours of active duty US Navy and Coast Guard ships, LA Fleet Week will return to San Pedro this Memorial Day weekend.
Billed as a “massive public performance along the L.A. waterfront,” the annual four-day celebration is free and honors the nation’s maritime services, with activities running Friday through Monday, June 26-29. .
The main exhibit space, which will be open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., is next to the USS Iowa battleship, near First Street in San Pedro, just south of the Vincent Thomas Bridge, at 250 S. Will be located at Harbor Blvd.
This year, events will also be planned throughout the Los Angeles area: A Hollywood “neighborhood activism” event will take place on Wednesday, May 24, and service members will visit various communities throughout the area, including Downtown Los Angeles on Thursday. . May 25; Bray on Friday, May 26; and Venice on Saturday 27 May.
Those events will include free band concerts, service projects and other activities.
LA Fleet Week, which officials say is the largest Memorial Day weekend event in Southern California, will feature family-friendly festivities, including live music and entertainment, boat tours, aircraft flyovers and performances. Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Army.
“There is no better place than the Los Angeles area to recognize the importance of our nation’s maritime services,” said Jonathan Williams, president and CEO of the Battleship Iowa Museum and National Museum of the Surface Army, in a statement to Fleet Week press. , “We are a maritime nation and Fleet Week gives us an opportunity to salute all those who watch over the freedom of the seas.”
The military branches will once again compete in dodgeball (at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday) and galley wars (at noon on Sunday).
An outdoor “Welcome Home” concert for members of the military, featuring Ambrosia, will take place Saturday from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club, 211 W. 22nd St.
However, space for the concert is limited and attendees must have an official pass or an active duty military ID to enter. However, additional public viewing areas will be available along the Boardwalk and 22nd Street as space allows.
A five-time Grammy Award nominee with roots in the South Bay, and San Pedro in particular, Ambrosia will perform some of her classic hits including “Biggest Part of Me,” “Baby Come Back” and “How Much Siento.”
This is the second year that LA Fleet Week is held on Memorial Day weekend.
The program was first launched in 2016 as part of the Labor Day weekend holiday. It was moved to Memorial Day weekend last year to take advantage of the cooler weather. And with forecasters predicting temperatures in the 60s, this year appears to be on the cusp of colder temperatures.
Memorial Day also coincides with one of the largest annual holiday events held in Iowa since June 2012 following the arrival of a historic World War II battleship as a floating museum in San Pedro.
The upcoming ships are expected to be announced as early as this week. Trips on those ships are free and on a first come, first served basis. Once again, the ships would be anchored in the outer harbor of San Pedro; Tram service would be the only way for visitors to access the site.
This year’s event begins a day earlier, with a pre-welcome party on Thursday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. in downtown San Pedro, featuring music, food and drink to welcome sailors and other service members Is. , The event will take place on Sixth Street between Mesa and Center Streets.
Also included in the festivities will be a brewery and wine garden, dessert food trucks, live music, swing dancers and a free photo booth. The US Navy Band will perform as Midlife Crisis, a nostalgia band that will end the evening with 80’s, 90’s and 00’s favorites.
A homecoming party is also planned for Friday at the Banning Residence Museum in Banning Park, 401 E.M. St., in Wilmington from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
When the event officially opens on Friday, visitors will find military exhibits, various military and veteran information booths, and other family-friendly activities at the expo site, as well as several local restaurants offering specials in the nearby New York District . ,
Visitors are urged to arrive early in the day; Parking will be available in and around downtown San Pedro a short distance from the exhibit.
Sunset cruises will also be available on the Los Angeles Maritime Institute’s tall ships, which are docked in the downtown harbor at Harbor Boulevard at Sixth Street. And the Los Angeles Maritime Museum next door will also be open so people can learn more about the port’s history.
The US Navy hosts Fleet Week events in ports across the United States, with the Los Angeles event taking place in New York over Memorial Day weekend.
The events provide an opportunity for residents to tour active duty ships, speak with sailors, and learn more about the Navy. Due to safety and traffic restrictions, vehicles will not be allowed on 22nd Street and pedestrians will not be allowed to enter the ship’s run area. They must be brought by transport from the exhibition area.
