Newport Beach’s famed holiday tradition wended...

Newport Beach’s famed holiday tradition wended its way through the

harbor during the first night of the 94th annual Christmas Boat

Parade on Wednesday.

The scene has become happily familiar to those along the parade’s

route: boats festooned with lights glide slowly along, at points

surpassed by the expansive holiday decorations put up by those living

along the harbor’s waters.

The parade’s theme this year is “Celebrating America With Lights,”

the second time in a row the parade has had a patriotic tone. Red,

white and blue lights were mixed with the traditional green and red

lights along the parade’s route.

The parade last night, tonight and on Sunday follows the shorter

of two routes, being used this year for the first time. Friday and

Saturday night the parade will sweep all the way to the end of the

Balboa Peninsula and back along Lido Isle.

For a detailed map of the parade route and a list of places from

which to get the best view, see Page A3.