If you live along Carroll, Linnie, Howland or Sherman Canal and don't own a kayak, where do you fit on the second Sunday of December? Going by last year's rules, you were already in the contest. The Venice Canals Holiday Boat Parade gave cash prizes for first, second and third place in three categories: best boats, best bridges and best canalside houses, as Yo! Venice reported in December 2025. In practice the parade is judged on the whole stretch of canal it passes, and the frontage counts as much as the water.
This year's parade is on Sunday, December 13, from 4 p.m. onward, according to the Venice Canals Association's events page. Renee Kaplan and Monnie Fanning are listed as chairs.
The prize list starts on the banks
The top award has its own name. "The Sandy" is the grand prize, and it goes to the entry the judges say best captures the true spirit of the Venice Canals. Last year's description didn't limit The Sandy to boats. With bridges and houses judged alongside the boats, a well-lit footbridge or porch is plausibly in the running.
Boats follow a stricter rule. In 2025, every boat had to be pre-registered to qualify for prizes. The entry form was printed on the parade flyer, and completed forms were scanned and emailed to [email protected]. Yo! Venice described the field as dozens of decorated boats, from kayaks and duck boats to larger vessels.
The 2026 flyer isn't out yet. The association's flyer page still shows an image from its 2024 uploads, so this year's deadline, categories and prize amounts are still to come. Anyone planning a boat, or a house display meant for the judges, should check back with the association before buying lights.
Last year's route, canal by canal
The route is the reason house displays matter, because it passes five of the six canals. Here is the 2025 route as Yo! Venice reported it:
- Boats gathered at 3:30 p.m. at Grand and Carroll Canals.
- The parade began at 4 p.m. and ran north along Carroll Canal.
- It turned east on Linnie Canal.
- It went north on Howland Canal.
- It ran east on Sherman Canal.
- It finished back on Grand Canal.
The association's canal map counts six canals, four Dell Avenue bridges and nine pedestrian footbridges, with a one-way vehicle entrance at Dell Avenue and Sherman Canal. Every one of those bridges is both a viewing platform and, under last year's categories, a possible entry.
For watching rather than competing, last year's preview pointed spectators to the bridges and walkways and named the corner of Eastern and Carroll Canals as a popular spot. The Cow's End Café on Washington Boulevard stayed open for hot chocolate and holiday treats. The event was free and open to the public. Plan around dusk. With a 4 p.m. start in mid-December, the light changes fast, and the lit boats and houses show best in the hour after the start.
Volunteers built this, and it's nearly fifty years old
The parade's homemade feel comes from who runs it. The Venice Canals Association describes itself as a voluntary 501(c)(3) public-benefit organization of residents, property owners and community members, working to preserve and protect the canals' public areas. The association page says it has served the community for 49 years. Its annual meeting on January 25, 2027 is billed as "Celebrating 50 years," with all welcome. So this December's parade falls in the last weeks before that milestone.
The association's work on the canals goes back to their rebuilding. A 1986 Los Angeles Times report described a Venice Canal Association group helping organize a restoration plan. The major renovation followed between 1991 and 1993. It included excavation, rebuilt retaining walls and sidewalks, and saltbush planting. The walkways where spectators stand on parade night came out of that work.
Accounts of the parade's own start don't agree. Yo! Venice called the 2025 event the 44th annual and dated the tradition to 1983. Its 2024 preview called that year's the 43rd but said the parade was "originally founded in 1989." The association itself puts it more simply:
"We invite you to decorate a boat and join in on the fun. All are welcome to partake in this festive activity."
The weeks around the parade
The parade ends a crowded stretch on Venice's calendar, and the busiest days come in the week before it. Some dates are confirmed. Others follow last year's pattern.
- Friday, November 6, 5 to 9:30 p.m. The Abbot Kinney First Friday Food Truck Fest, listed on the Abbot Kinney Boulevard Association's site.
- Thanksgiving weekend, November 27 to 29. A tailgate at Abbot Kinney Supply, the shop that scheduled its opening at 1733 Abbot Kinney for November 1. It will stay open every day from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. through December 23.
- Saturday, December 5, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Venice Winter Fest, a free holiday market with local makers, artists, small businesses and photos with Santa. It takes over Venice Boulevard from Centinela to Grand View Boulevard, a few miles inland from the canals.
- Sunday, December 6, 2 to 5 p.m. The Venice Canals Association's Holiday Toy Drive at Linnie Canal Park, with Santa from 4 to 5 p.m. Cynthia Conway is the chair. The association's page describes the drive as a collection for the LAFD's Spark of Love campaign, with a Drive Through with Santa.
- Early December, date to come. The lighting of the VENICE sign over Windward Avenue, with a free block party at Windward and Pacific. Last year the Venice Chamber hosted it on Saturday, December 6, from 6 to 9 p.m., with a street closure east of Pacific Avenue, as the Santa Monica Daily Press reported. This year the first Saturday of December falls on December 5, the same day as Winter Fest.
- Sunday, December 13, from 4 p.m. The Holiday Boat Parade.
Abbot Kinney Supply's holiday calendar ends with the parade, describing neighbors a few blocks from the shop who "light up their boats and parade them through the canals at dusk." Linnie Canal Park hosts the toy drive one Sunday, and the parade passes along Linnie the next. Both events are run by the same volunteer association, along the same stretch of water.
A canal home's frontage carries over from year to year. It's the side the judges see in December, and the side a buyer sees from the bridge. If you own along the canals and would like a measured view of how your home presents from the water, and what that means for its value, Kathy Marshall offers a discreet conversation. Request a Private Valuation & Consultation.
