The tents go up on 12th Street before seven on Sunday mornings. By the time the Regatta Court crowns a new queen at the Liberty Theatre on Wednesday night, the fried-food trailers have already parked at Englund Marine and the Bar Pilot's boat is fueling up for Saturday's Highwater Parade. August in Astoria unfolds on a schedule that looks, from the outside, like one long festival weekend and, from the inside, like something else entirely.
Here is the thesis worth carrying around this month: the Astoria Regatta is a four-day festival, but its center of gravity sits on Wednesday and Thursday, not Saturday. If you already live in Clatsop County, the calendar rewards you for showing up before the parade route fills in.
The midweek nobody tells visitors about
The Astoria Regatta Festival returns Aug. 5 through Aug. 8 with a "Raised on the River" theme, a nod to Festival president Jenni Pinkstaff's heritage as a 7th generation Astorian. Most out-of-towners plan around the Saturday parade. The events worth clearing your evening for are earlier in the week.
Wednesday, August 5
- Queen's Farewell at 5:30 p.m. in the McTavish Room, free; Queen's Coronation at 7:00 p.m. at the Liberty Theatre, free. The Regatta bids farewell to last year's queen, Chantrell Lee, and welcomes the 2026 queen to open the festival.
- A new event this year: the Regatta has partnered with the North Coast Paddling Club for a community dragon boat ride on Wednesday, Aug. 5, giving the public a chance to hop aboard one of the paddle club's boats.
Thursday, August 6
- Astoria Family Fun Night at Englund Marine, with the Kiwanis Kids Parade kicking off at 6:30 p.m., plus games, a dance party, food, and a treasure hunt. Free and fun for all ages.
- Yacht Rock Dance Party at the Liberty Theatre later that evening.
Friday, August 7
- The Seamen's Memorial, a solemn moment honoring the U.S. Coast Guard, Navy, commercial fishermen, river and bar pilots, and others in maritime industries.
- Astoria Yacht Club Regatta sailboat races from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., held on the Columbia above the bridge on the waterfront when weather cooperates.
The Coronation and the Seamen's Memorial are the two nights that separate visitors from residents. The first is a piece of community theatre most tourists don't know is happening. The second is not for tourists at all. Regatta pins are for sale around town for $10; they support the festival, get you discounts at select businesses, and reduce admission to individually ticketed Regatta events.
What actually changed at Sunday Market this year
If you last shopped the market in 2024, walk it again. The vendor mix has shifted enough that the food court and the produce rows both look different.
The 2026 market runs 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Sunday from May 10 until Oct. 11 on 12th Street. That gives you nine Sundays remaining after early August, which sounds like a lot until you subtract the two that overlap with Regatta weekend and the ones you'll skip for the coast. The number to plan around is closer to five.
Two vendor stories worth knowing:
While Thompson has sold baked goods at the market in the last three seasons, 2026 will be her first full year bringing vegetables. "We didn't want to compete with other local farms," said Thompson. "But one of the farms is taking a year off, and we wanted to make sure there was still local produce available for people."
That gap on the produce side is the single biggest change in the market's texture this year. If you have relied on a specific farm stand for tomatoes or greens in past Augusts, walk the full length of 12th Street between Marine Drive and Exchange before you commit to a routine. Ryan Montoure, who runs Stamper Cheese NW, is also preparing for his first full Astoria season.
The other shift is a graduation. Annie Aube saw so much success at the market last year that she was able to open a brick-and-mortar store for her business, Necessary Magic, at 333 10th St. That's a five-minute walk from the market itself, which turns a Sunday morning into a slightly longer loop.
Two other returning names worth flagging: Roy and Sue Rosselli, the artists behind Beachi Girl Pottery and Woodcraft, are back for their sixth season, and Whitney's Happy Homestead Apiary continues to draw people from across the state who come to Astoria just for the market. Artist Dianne "D" Valenzuela of Daydreamin' D created the 2026 seasonal poster and vends prints, custom stamps, and watercolors on Sunday.
The weekend the whole county turns up
Saturday, August 8, is when the crowds arrive. If you're planning around parade routes, cluster your errands accordingly.
The Grand Land Parade rolls through downtown, followed later by the water event. The Highwater Boat Parade on the Columbia features service groups, commercial industry, and sports craft, with the Regatta Court on the Bar Pilot's boat leading the parade; it's viewable from waterfront restaurants and docks along the riverfront. Watching from the docks is free. Watching from a table at a riverfront restaurant requires a reservation you should have already made.
Astoria Yacht Club's Saturday race runs 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., which means the water is busy in overlapping shifts all afternoon.
A practical note on the Regatta's own math: most Regatta events are free to the public, but some events have a small fee to help support ongoing Regatta scholarships and education events. The $10 pin usually pays for itself if you attend more than two ticketed things.
The quieter August most residents forget about
The Regatta swallows most of the local coverage in early August, which means the rest of the month reads as an afterthought. It shouldn't. Three things worth putting on the calendar after the parades pack up:
Barbey Maritime Center drop-ins. The Sam Johnson Woodworking Shop at the Barbey Maritime Center, 2042 Marine Dr., opens on August 9 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for drop-ins to see how the space is used. The follow-up class is the one to circle: a two-day introductory ship-in-a-bottle course on Saturday and Sunday, August 22 and 23, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. each day, with registration closing August 15 or when the class fills.
Downtown walking tours. The Lower Columbia Preservation Society runs weekly guided walking tours through the Downtown Astoria Historic District, point-to-point from Astoria Nordic Heritage Park to the Flavel House Museum, about ten blocks over 90 minutes. This is the kind of thing longtime residents skip because it sounds touristy. It isn't. Even people who have lived on the hill for twenty years learn something about the block they drive past every day.
Horse Feathers at the Liberty. Horse Feathers plays the Liberty Theatre on August 28, closing out the month before the September calendar loads up with Pink Martini All-Stars and the Liberty Gala.
The regional wrinkle that will affect your commute
One thing to know if you're driving south or east in mid-August: the calendar in Pacific County will push traffic and lodging demand into Astoria whether you like it or not.
The Washington State International Kite Festival at Long Beach draws famous kite fliers from around the world and tens of thousands of spectators; although not itself in Astoria or Warrenton, the local visitor bureau lists it because it sets expectations for a busy weekend in our region. That festival runs the third week of August. Grocery runs, gas stops, and Highway 101 south of the bridge all move slower during that stretch. Plan the harder errands for the following week.
The one thing worth watching this month
If you take one recommendation from this post, make it the Coronation at the Liberty on Wednesday, August 5. It costs nothing. It's over by 8:30. You will be in a room with the neighbors who have been doing this for decades and the high schoolers stepping into a tradition that has become the oldest celebration in Oregon's oldest city and one of the oldest festivals in the West. The 2026 Regatta Court includes Teslyn Wintersteen and Daphne Madsen from Astoria High School, and Jordan Josephson and McKenzie Haag from Seaside High School. Those are your neighbors' kids. Showing up is the whole point.
August is the month Clatsop County stops explaining itself to visitors and starts talking to itself. If you know when to be where, you don't need the explanation either.
If you're already thinking about how your Clatsop County home fits into next year's plans, whether that means selling into the spring market or trading a Warrenton starter for something with more room, the Home Performance Team can help you think through timing, valuation, and what your next move actually looks like. Request your free, personalized home valuation whenever you're ready.
