Vallejo Waterfront Weekend sets sail with new captain – The Vacaville Reporter

Vallejo Waterfront Weekend is entering its 10th year with a new organizer at the helm. The annual two-day event, always held the first weekend in October, will revive the classic Whale Boat Races, Glo Run, Martial Arts Tournament and Ducky Derby, but with some new updates.

Jacqueline Barsotti, chief executive optimist at Suite Treatments, takes over the event after Lisa Gannon stepped down from the role after seven years. Since its founding 25 years ago, Suite Treatments has been a driving force in the event design industry and this year was named the City of Vallejo’s Event Planner.

This is her first major festival for the city, which comes with its own learning curves for Barsotti.

“The girl in front of me who did that, Lisa Gannon, is a saint,” Barsotti laughed. “Following in their footsteps is a very big task. That’s what we want to do here, carry on her torch and be as good as she was. That is our goal.”

Despite the daunting task ahead, Barsotti feels more honored by this role than anything else.

“I can’t wait for it to happen,” Barsotti says. “It is a great honor to be associated with so many different companies that want to do good for the city of Vallejo and its residents. I feel very, very cool and honored to do this.”

As the event changes hands in its anniversary year, Barsotti hopes to celebrate the festival’s rich history while focusing on updating it for the present. At its core, the festival revisits Vallejo’s earliest history, namely whaleboat racing, which has been a popular sport in the Mare Island Strait since the 19th century.

“We wanted to keep the fabric,” said Barsotti, who focused on updating the branding while maintaining the recognition of previous years. “I think it’s great to keep it water-based.”

A walk along the waterfront, for example, offers a glimpse of Barsotti’s increased promotional efforts, with banners hanging from every street pole. Additional additions such as a shaded area and fog tents reflect Suite Treatments’ decades of experience in event optimization. Barsotti also reevaluated the use of the park by moving the main stage from the center of the park to the north end to better reach a larger audience.

Given this year’s main stage lineup, it makes sense why Barsotti is pre-empting crowd control issues.

The Dan Ashley Americana Rock Band, led by the ABC7 news anchor, will begin live performances at noon Saturday. The Curtis Family C Notes, which Barsotti describes as “like the new Jackson 5,” will close out the day’s main stage performances.

Sunday marks the transition from festival day to community day with a repeat of the Whaleboat Regatta and Ducky Derby, but also the Pet Adoption Parade.

“Our whole motivation is to raise money for our beneficiaries,” Barsotti said. “We have 13 different nonprofits that we raise money for.” Nonprofits include Future Leadership Vallejo, Lady Eschelon, Humane Society of the North Bay, Solano Sunset Rotary, House of Acts and The ARC Solano.

“My main goal is to get more engagement with our community,” Barsotti said. By purchasing a new geo-tracking technology called Placer, Suite Treatments is able to track visitor trends for the City of Vallejo. When analyzing past festivals using this technology, Barsotti has noticed a worrying statistic where, on average, attendees only stay at the festival for between 10 and 20 minutes.

Barsotti’s goal this year is to increase the average visit time to an hour, “so they can actually explore the entire park, take advantage of some of the activities that are taking place and stay longer.” Barsotti’s target is 7,000 to 10,000 viewers, a significant increase compared to the 5,000 average in previous years.

The overall fundraising goal has also increased, with Barsotti targeting a donation of over $50,000 this year, which “is really made possible by the sponsors,” Barsotti said.

“Now that we have our fingers in the pie, we’re definitely looking forward to making another cake next year and trying to keep getting better and keep improving.”

IF YOU GO:

• WHAT: Vallejo Waterfront Weekend
• WHEN: October 5th, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. and October 6, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m
• WHERE: 289 Mare Island Way, Vallejo.
• TICKETS: Admission to the event is free, but registration is required for some activities. The full schedule and map can be found online at vallejowaterfrontweekend.com.