Fiesta Days is here

Memorial Day Weekend couldn’t get here fast enough. Thousands of residents and their guests will pour into Canyon Lake beginning tonight for three days of Fiesta Hopper fun, including tomorrow’s 9:00 a.m. parade, before hitting the lake and barbecues for Monday’s holiday.

The Canyon Lake POA has put together its Fiesta Hopper, but this year with the tagline and theme, “Fiesta Hopper Celebrates Lake Life,” a tribute to all of the lake activities available in Canyon Lake, like camping, water sports, swimming, fishing, skiing and so much more.

Five of Canyon Lake’s parks will host events, many of which will take place simultaneously…hence, the Fiesta Hopper moniker. All events and entertainment are free. Vendors and food, of course, will be selling their wares.

Fiesta Hopper events begin tonight at the Canyon Lake Lodge with a Movie Night at the Lodge Pool. Food and drinks will be available for purchase from Da’ Big Show BBQ and Tiki Treats.

Saturday is loaded, beginning with the headliner, the Fiesta Day Parade, at 9:00 a.m. The parade will begin at the intersection of Mayflower Drive and Canyon Lake Drive North, heading down Canyon Lake Drive North to Vacation Drive, where it will turn right and continue until it ends at Lighthouse Drive.

The balance of Saturday will have entertainment and food from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the five parks: Canyon Lake Lodge, Sierra Park, Holiday Harbor, Indian Beach and Eastport Park. The complete chart of what is available at each park accompanies this article.

Sunday will utilize the Lodge Pool again from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for Pool Mini Paddle Boats as well as food. Holiday Harbor will utilize its amphitheater for a Rock the Boat Concert where the band turns and faces the lake to play to bobbing boats. Jump houses, a vendor fair and food will also be at the park from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Indian Beach will host a Movie Night that will begin at dusk.

Memorial Day on Monday will be largely unscheduled and parks and the lake open as usual. There will be food and drinks from Da’ Big Show BBQ and Tiki Treats at The Lodge from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The Saturday morning parade is well organized and has rules and road closures to keep all running smoothly.

Closure of streets begins at 8:30 a.m. The Parade Staging Streets are Spray Drive, Smugglers Point Drive, Sloop Drive, and Clearwater Drive. Line-up begins at 7:00 a.m. Staging streets will re-open after the parade ends at approximately 10:00 a.m.

Parade participants can either park or pull over to unload passengers on Lighthouse Drive or continue down Lighthouse Drive to Canyon Club Drive and onto Canyon Lake Drive North to exit the parade. Canyon Club Drive and Lighthouse Drive will not be designated as one way this year, so parade participants unloading passengers are being asked to pull-off to the sides and not block traffic.

There will be portable public restrooms along the parade route on the corner of Canyon Lake Drive and Vacation Drive, the corner of Lighthouse Drive and Vacation Drive and near staging streets.

Photo provided by Canyon Lake POA

Three streets will close at 8:30 a.m. and will remain closed until after the parade ends. Those closing will be Canyon Lake Drive North (Evans Park to Vacation Drive Stop Sign), Vacation Drive (From Stop Sign to Lighthouse Drive) and Village Way at the Main Causeway.

Canyon Club Drive and Lighthouse Drive will be the exit route of the parade participants. Sierra Park and Eastport Park will be accessible after the parade clears.

There will be no parking tomorrow from 6:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on Canyon Lake Drive North (from Steelhead Drive to Vacation Drive), and Vacation Drive to Lighthouse Drive.

Because of COVID-19 restrictions the last two years, the normally-packed Canyon Lake was eerily quiet during what is normally one of the biggest recreational weekends of the year. The successful spread-out Fiesta Day Hopper event last year was such a hit, it was determined that it could be combined with the traditional pre-pandemic Fiesta Day.

For more than 40 years, thousands have crammed into Canyon Lake on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend to celebrate not just the holiday, but the unofficial birth of summer.

The highlight of the three days of events will be the parade. Debby Gagnon, a fixture in the Canyon Lake community as both a business owner and civic volunteer, has been named the Grand Marshall of the Fiesta Days Parade. Debby is the owner of Pack, Wrap and Post in the Canyon Lake Town Center and has been an active member of several service clubs and organizations in Canyon Lake.a