In November 2022, the call went out for Riviera Bay's "annual Christmas Eve Boat Parade." Boats were to meet in the canal near the Sunlit Cove boat ramp at 6:30 p.m. and switch to channel 69, where lead captain Lance Obst would give directions. The 2022 notice on The Gateway District also asked every boat that joined to stay until the end "so that the entire neighborhood gets to enjoy all of the decorations." The parade finished in the large section of Sunlit Cove.
That plan put boats on the water on the same evening the neighborhood lit its luminaries. It no longer works that way. In 2026, the Christmas Boat Parade lines up at the Sunlit Cove Boat Ramp, 3706 Sunlit Cove Dr NE, on Saturday, December 19, from 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. Christmas Eve now has one event on the Riviera Bay calendar, the candles.
The date change came from neighbors
The Riviera Bay Civic Association's public calendar still shows the boat parade on December 24 in 2024. In 2025 it moved to Saturday, December 20, and the luminaries stayed on December 24. The president's year-end letter in the RBCA newsletter explained the move in two sentences:
"After listening to neighborhood feedback, we changed the date, and the response spoke for itself. The number of participating boats was tremendous, creating one of the most memorable parades we have seen in years."
Once the parade had a Saturday to itself, more boats joined than in recent years. In 2026 the parade again takes the Saturday before Christmas. The candles keep December 24, from 6 to 11:30 p.m. on the association's calendar.
What Christmas Eve keeps
The luminaries have a longer record than any other event on the calendar. RBCA's 2024 Volunteers of the Year profile says Jean Tyack and her husband Rod moved to the neighborhood in 1975. Jean became Christmas Candle Chairman in 1989, and "2024 marked 35 years of coordinating the sale, distribution, and delivery of the candles that light the way every Christmas Eve in Riviera Bay." The profile adds that several neighbors help her each year.
Those 35 years include the seasons when the luminaries and the boats shared one evening. With the boats on the 19th, a household no longer has to choose between lighting bags along the curb and heading to the water.
The candles are sold through the association's luminaria page. Here is how ordering works as of this season:
- Price: Candles and bags come in sets of five for $5 each. The form lists packages from 5 candles for $5 up to 40 candles for $40, and an "Other" field takes larger orders.
- Pre-order or wait at home: The online form exists so you don't have to be home for the annual door-to-door sales drive in December.
- Payment: Zelle is preferred. Put your house number and street in the memo so the payment is credited to the right address. If you pay by cash or check, you drop it off with the treasurer, and the form gives the location.
- Membership on the same form: The form also takes RBCA dues of $10 per household per year. Memberships expire every December 31, and you need to be paid up to vote at the January annual meeting.
The door-to-door drive and the membership drive happen together each December. At the August 2026 general meeting, the association said it still needed "lots of Luminary (Candle) Sales Volunteers" and asked anyone willing to be a distributor to reach out.
Three weekends instead of one crowded night
With the boat parade moved, the season now spreads across three weekends, and no two parades or lighting events share an evening. Here is the 2026 order from the RBCA calendar:
- Saturday, December 12, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m.: Holiday Golf Cart Parade, starting at Riviera Bay Community Playground, 9400–9598 2nd St N.
- Saturday, December 12, 7:15 to 11 p.m.: Holiday Block Party, right after the carts finish.
- Sunday, December 13, 6 to 10 p.m.: Holiday Decor Contest.
- Saturday, December 19, 6:15 to 7:15 p.m.: Christmas Boat Parade from the Sunlit Cove Boat Ramp.
- Thursday, December 24, 6 to 11:30 p.m.: Luminaries, "Light Up Riviera Bay."
- Sunday, December 27, 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.: Butterfly Garden Maintenance at Riviera Bay Park, 8131 Macoma Dr NE.
The two parades start at the same time of evening, one week apart, from two different launch points. The carts leave from the playground on 2nd Street North and the boats from the ramp on Sunlit Cove Drive. Since neither competes with the other or with Christmas Eve, a household can go to all of them.
How the carts and the contest work
The golf cart parade is the newer tradition, and it runs on the same volunteer model. The 2025 announcement on The Gateway District billed it as the 6th Annual Holiday Golf Cart Parade. That makes December 12 the seventh, if the count holds. In 2025 the lineup was at the community playground behind Liberty Baptist Church. Carts were asked to arrive by 6 p.m. for a 6:15 start, and contestants by 5:45 p.m. for check-in and photos.
Three details from that announcement show how the route works:
- Prizes went to members. Best Decorated Golf Cart and Runner-Up were open to carts whose owners were RBCA members by parade day. That's the same $10 membership sold on the luminaria form.
- Viewing parties go on the map. The route passes designated public viewing areas early on. Residents hosting a gathering in a driveway, cul-de-sac or front yard could ask to have their spot added to the parade map.
- Corners stay clear. Organizers asked residents to keep parked cars off the route, "especially near corners and turning points."
The carts already have a following. At the August 11, 2026 general meeting, the association reported that its summer golf cart parade was a "Big Success" with "22+ Golf Carts Participated."
The decor contest the next night is judged quietly. A 2023 RBCA notice gave residents wide creative freedom, kept the judges "top-secret," and required outdoor lights and displays to be on at judging time. The top prize was $100. This year the window runs from 6 to 10 p.m. on December 13. That's the night after the golf carts pass the same houses, so the lights are already up and tested.
How the calendar gets decided
The groundwork for December began over the summer. At the August meeting the association listed openings for street captains and luminary routes. It also put out a call for volunteers to help plan and decorate for Christmas.
The same year-end letter that explained the boat parade move shows how the association decides what stays. Its first Haunted Playground was the highest-attended event of 2025, so it was added to the regular lineup for 2026. The Haunted Playground stayed because of attendance, and the boat parade moved because of feedback. The parade went to a Saturday, the boats turned out, and the 2026 calendar keeps that date.
The season ends at Riviera Bay Park, 8131 Macoma Dr NE, on Sunday, December 27, when volunteers tend the butterfly garden from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., three days after the candles burn out.
Riviera Bay found the boat parade's best date by watching how many boats showed up. Pricing a home works the same way, because the first number has to hold up once buyers respond to it. If your house is on the luminary route this year and you'd like to know what it would bring today, Marsh Bilby can walk you through the comparable sales before the holidays fill up. Start with a free home valuation.
