Manhattan Beach About Town
Girl Scouts kick off a past Hometown Fair. Photo /CivicCouch.com
Community celebration endures
In 1972, a group of local residents decided to put together a homey community celebration in the form of a good old fashioned fair. It included a parade down Manhattan Beach Boulevard that ended at Valley Drive, where craft and game booths were set up, and local food and entertainment awaited. They called it the Old Hometown Fair.
Forty-seven years later, it’s no longer old, but simply called the Hometown Fair. Pretty much everything else remains the same at the Hometown Fair, which takes place Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“The fair is one of those things in this community that doesn’t really change,” said Bea Zimbalist, the president of the 21-person all-volunteer Hometown Fair committee. “You can still do the fish toss, get some pepper bellies, hear some bands, see a lot of crafts and jewelry and a bounce house for kids, which is free, and amateur and professional art, and of course our beer and wine gardens. Who doesn’t love that?”
Local lifeguards are still making fish tacos, and all the entertainment is still very local, including the venerable Hyperion Outfall Serenaders. Attractions for kids include a wild animal show, a petting zoo, a toddler trot, a treasure hunt, a water balloon toss, a magic show, and a hula hoop contest.
A key to it all, said Zimbalist, is that the event is put on by locals for locals. There are no outside organizers, and more than a dozen local charities will benefit from proceeds from many of the different attractions.
“So much of it goes back to charity, the Fair,” Zimbalist said. “We really do look at it as a platform for people to raise money…It just brings out the best in people. They just want to be there and be all together and spend money for good causes. And you are going to see people you know from around town, because this is all so community-driven. This is a two-day celebration of what this town is all about.”
See MBFair.org for a full lineup of festivities.