Parade draws in attention

Crowds from all over the Southland head to Newport Harbor to watch the parade, and national TV shows focus their cameras on the city’s boat-decorating tradition.Newport Beach’s official population count stands at about 83,100 people. Richard Luehrs, president of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, is confident that more than 10 times that number visited the city recently to watch the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade.

“In the past, we’d been talking about that it appears maybe there are a million people that view the parade in person,” Luehrs said. “We’re not backing away from that number.”

Boats entered in the 97th annual Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade lighted up Newport Harbor from Dec. 14 through Sunday. For restaurateurs, that five-day period meant an influx of hungry parade viewers came to Newport Beach looking for places to watch the illuminated boats and grab a bite to eat.

“It was our best week of the year,” said Debbie McKinstry, manager at the Harborside Restaurant and Grand Ballroom at Balboa Village. “We were full every single night.”

Billy’s at the Beach, a Mariner’s Mile restaurant, was also packed during the parade, restaurant manager Cash Wilson said. Like most years, Billy’s at the Beach diners during the parade were mostly from other Southern California cities.

“It’s pretty much the same thing, man. We got not so much locals, but people all over Orange County,” Wilson said.

As if the boat parade did not generate enough attention for Newport Beach during its run, the event is set to give the city some more publicity. Home and Garden Television is airing preparations for last year’s parade throughout the month. And for more TV time, “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” is expected to show a parade-related bit tonight.

Luehrs is happy that the parade and Newport Beach are on tap to get some extra publicity on Leno’s show.

“As long as they spell the names right, all news is good news,” he said.