Festival of the Whales

Blue illustration of a whale with blue text below and an outer blue edge with white outlined text on it

The Festival of the Whales has been held annually in Dana Point, California since 1972. Taking place over two weekends in early March, The Festival of the Whales is one of Southern California’s largest and longest running festivals and many area businesses, like local Mexican food restaurant Casa Maria, participate in festival events. The festival celebrates the yearly migration of gray whales, who travel along the California coast during a 10,000-mile round-trip from their winter warm-water breeding and calving lagoons in Baja, Mexico to cold-water feeding grounds in Alaska. Scientists believe that the whales may use the cliffs of Dana Point as a navigational landmark, as they frequently appear close to shore during their migration north. The Festival of the Whales features four days of whale watching, a parade and street fair, arts and crafts shows, classic car exhibits, a sand sculpture contest, concerts, and various educational whale-related activities that support the protection and preservation of oceans and marine life.