October 3 Vallejo/Vacaville Arts and Entertainment Source: Vallejo Waterfront Weekend to set sail with new captain

Vallejo Waterfront Weekend is setting sail on its 10th year with a new organizer at the helm. The annual two-day event — always set for the first weekend in October — will revive the classic Whaleboat Races, Glo Run, Martial Arts tournament and Ducky Derby, but with some new updates.

Jacqueline Barsotti, Chief Executive Optimist at Suite Treatments, is taking on the event following Lisa Gannon’s retirement from the role after seven years. Since starting 25 years ago, Suite Treatments has been a force in the event design industry, earning the appointment of event planner for the City of Vallejo this year.

This marks their first large festival for the city, bringing it’s own set of learning curves for Barsotti.

“The gal before me who did this, Lisa Gannon, is a saint,” laughed Barsotti. “Filling her shoes is a very large task. That’s what we’re trying to do here, is carry on her torch and be as good as she was. That’s our goal.”

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

“I can’t wait for it to happen,” Barsotti says. “I feel that it is such an honor to be connected to so many different businesses that want to do good things for the city of Vallejo and its residents. I feel very very cool and honored to do that.”

As the event changes hands on its anniversary year, Barsotti is hoping to celebrate the festival’s rich history while focusing on updating it for the present. At its core, the festival revisits some of Vallejo’s earliest history with the Whaleboat Races which were a popular sport in the Mare Island Strait beginning in the 1800s.

“We wanted to keep the fabric the same,” said Barsotti, whose focus has been updating the branding while keeping it recognizable from years past. “I do think keeping it water-based is amazing.”

A walk along the waterfront, for example, offers a glimpse at Barsotti’s increased advertising measures where banners hang from every street pole. Other additions like a shaded area and misting tents reflect Suite Treatments’ decades in event optimization. Barsotti has also reevaluated the use of the park by moving the mainstage from the middle of the park to the north end to better facilitate large audiences.

Given this year’s mainstage lineup, it makes sense why Barsotti is preempting crowd control issues.

The Dan Ashley Americana Rock Band, headed by the ABC7 news anchor, will kick off the live performances at noon on Saturday. The Curtis Family C Notes, who Barsotti states are “like the new Jackson 5,” are set to close out the main stage performances for the day.

Sunday marks the shift from Festival day to Community day with a reprise of the Whaleboat Regatta and Ducky Derby but also the Pet Adoption Parade.

“Our whole motivation is to raise money for our beneficiaries,” said Barsotti. “We have 13 different nonprofits that we’re raising money for.” Among the nonprofits are 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,” said Barsotti. By purchasing new geo-tracking technology called Placer, Suite Treatments is able to track attendance trends for the City of Vallejo. Using this technology to analyze past festivals, Barsotti has seen a worrying statistic where attendees, on average, only stay at the festival between 10 and 20 minutes.

Barsotti’s goal this year is to increase the average visit time to an hour so “that they can actually explore the entire park, take advantage of some of the activities happening and stay longer.” Barsotti’s attendance goal is seven to 10 thousand, a considerable increase from previous years averaging five thousand.

The overall donation goal has also increased as Barsotti aims to donate over $50,000 this year, which is “really made possible by the sponsors,” said Barsotti.

“Now that we’ve got our fingers in the pie, we definitely look forward to baking another pie next year and trying to only get better and improve as we go.”

IF YOU GO:

• WHAT: Vallejo Waterfront Weekend
• WHEN: October 5, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. and October 6, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
• WHERE: 289 Mare Island Way, Vallejo.
• TICKETS: Event entry is free, registration is required for some activities. For full schedule and map, check online at vallejowaterfrontweekend.com for full details.