Dory Days promises weekend of fun

Pacific City’s annual Dory Days festival returns from July 19-21, with a schedule jam packed with fun events for its 65thannual edition.

Celebrating the local Dory boat fishing culture on the Oregon coast, the festival has been named one of Oregon’s 21 heritage traditions and features a theme of Decades of Dories this year.

The Dory Days tradition started in 1959, when state representative Paul Hanneman conceived of the event as a way to celebrate Pacific City’s local history, giving birth to the Dory Derbies, which would later be renamed Dory Days.

Hosted by the Pacific City-Nestucca Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Pacific City Dorymen’s association, this year’s fun will kick off with a concert on Friday night by The Radio Riots. Tickets cost $15 for the concert at the Kiawanda Community Center at 34600 Cape Kiwanda Drive from 7-10 p.m.

Saturday morning, events get going early with a pancake breakfast, also hosted at the Kiawanda Community Center, to benefit the Nestucca Rural Fire Protection District. Plates cost $8 for adults and $4 for kids, with doors open from 7 to 10 a.m.

The weekend’s headlining event, the Dory Days Parade, will start at 11 a.m. on Sunset Drive before hanging a right on Pacific Avenue over the Nestucca River and turning left on Brooten Road.

After the parade, the Kiawanda Community Center will play host to the festival’s annual fish fry from noon until 5 p.m. The fish fry costs $18 for adults and $12 for kids and there will be activities for children and a display on the history of the dory fleet for adults.

There will also be two ongoing events throughout the weekend: the Dory display and the artisan fair, both happening at the Dorymen’s lot at 34670 Brooten Road. The display will be set up from noon to 6 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and give event attendees the opportunity to learn more about the history of the dory fleet. The artisan fair will be open on the same hours on Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Check out pacificcitydorydays.com for more information.