Vallejo festival kicks off in December with weird, wild and wonderful series of events

Vallejo’s Unity Plaza and other city sites will transform into Alice’s Wonderland next month for the fifth annual Mad Hatter Holiday Festival, one of several whimsical celebrations that have come to Vallejo in the past several years.

The festival draws thousands to the city’s historic district and Mare Island, where they will see art mobiles, fire-shooting snails and Santa’s G-nome, dancing cadets from the California Maritime Academy and the cast of characters from Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” novels.

Frank Malifrando, chief organizer, said event attendees often dress in theme attire or Victorian garb. They will mingle with the likes of the Mad Hatter and his Giant Sofa, the Mouse, the Lion King, the Cheshire Cat, the Ladybug, roving Wonderland queens and duchesses as well as the White Rabbit at the festival’s opening Dec. 6.

In addition, local libraries will have programs throughout December featuring storytellers and special readings from both “Alice in Wonderland” and its sequel, “Alice Through the Looking-Glass.”

Visitors will be able to attend tea parties at stores, local parks and Vallejo City Hall. Other festival features are a giant steampunk kaleidoscope, the Gypsy Time Travelers and their European Castle, and street carolers.

The festival starts at 2 p.m. Dec. 6 in Unity Plaza in front of John F. Kennedy Library, at Georgia and Santa Clara streets, with an “Alice in Wonderland” family adventure.

OzCat Radio will provide music and entertainment near the city’s holiday tree, including Darlyn Parl, a former member of the Singing Blue Stars at the U.S.S. Hornet, Tony Archimecles, Michael Fourie and Chriss Robinson, the doo-wop group Colton Waters and the Sensations, Reggae and Hawaiian ukulele with Izi Holokahi, the San Francisco reggae group Mellow Movement, holiday music by Amity Rose, and Everyday People, a neo-funk and jazz band performing a tribute to Vallejo native Sly Stone.

Visitors also will find food, hot chocolate, arts and crafts and Wonderland activities including the Hatter’s Tea with Teddy that starts at 2 p.m. Dec. 6 at the Vallejo Historical and Naval Museum, 734 Marin St.

Among the children’s rides will be a train that will take youngsters around the lighted holiday tree and through the looking-glass into a display of giant, inflatable astrobotanical creations.

Viewers also will see dancing Mexican horses, a mini-carousel and a bull ride.

They can mingle again with “Alice in Wonderland” characters, who will welcome Galaxy of Star Wars Adventures stormtroopers and the Wookiee Chewbacca, as well as characters from Six Flags Discovery Kingdom who will participate in the parade and be available for photographs during the festival.

“The Wonderland re-creations from the Victorian period in the parade will be going full speed ahead,” Malifrando said.

The Mad Hatter parade, led by the Mad Hatter and his friends, including the Bethel High School Marching Band, will start at 4:30 p.m. Dec. 6 on Sonoma Boulevard, and will go down Georgia Street.

The parade will be full of surprises “that come out of the rabbit hole in Wonderland,” Malifrando said.

They’ll range from The Big Wheel, a multicolored and brightly lit spoked construct, an oversized roaming Cupcake and The Mushroom.

Chester the Pony, a firing equine led by Hogan Middle School Band, will be Santa Claus’s ride into the city.

Other parade entries are the Cal Maritime Cadets in their dress blues and their dance partners, the United States Air Force from Travis Air Force Base.

At the end of the parade, participating art cars — some of which will shoot fire throughout the parade — will be available for viewing.

The tree lighting program will start at 6 p.m. Dec. 6 behind John F. Kennedy Library, and includes holiday carols and other performances. A countdown leads to illuminating Vallejo’s 45-foot tree with 3,000 lights.

Then the 5-foot Santa G-nome will release flames from the top of his head that will reach 30 feet into the air — the signal for the Lighted Boat Parade, with vessels circling the Vallejo waterfront.

The Greater Vallejo Recreation District’s Wonderland Park tree lighting ceremony starts at 7 p.m. at 360 Glenn St.

The Mad Hatter Costume Ball, at 7:30 p.m. at Dance Unlimited, 510 Georgia St., will give dancers two floors, three bands and disc jockeys as well as other performances and a chance to compete in a costume contest. Refreshments, including food and beverages, will be available in part by Lake County Wineries.

Many of those attending dress in Victorian or “Alice in Wonderland” attire, and many of the Wonderland hosts and characters, will attend and be available for photographs.

Annie Marie and Fiddlaround, an acoustic trio, will play Americana music that ranges from fiddle tunes to swamp boogie, blues, Cajun and Louisiana, Texas and California country music.

Also performing will be Raymond Victor, the Used Blues Band, and San Francisco’s blend of Irish and American talent, the Shams, a fiddle-playing punk-infused band.

During breaks, those attending can see swing and jitterbug dance groups and learn some of the steps.
Admission is $25, which includes food and beverages; tickets are available through www.brownpapertickets.com.

Associated events will be the Christmas movie, “It’s A Wonderful Life,” starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, at 5 p.m. Dec. 7 at the Empress Theater, 330 Virginia St. Admission is $10.

Festivities continue Dec. 13 when the Wonderland Exhibit reopens at noon, including the “Gazing Through the Looking Glass” exhibit at the Vallejo Historical and Naval Museum, 734 Marin St., which runs through Jan. 3.

That show is a display of artists’ interpretation of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice” characters, both in book illustrations and in paintings.

Malifrando said the exhibit “explores how some artists have picked up Lewis’s characters and made them part of contemporary art.”

Among the participating artists are celebrated illustrator Barry Moser, visionary artist Charles Ware and fantasy artist Ronnie Goodman. Lectures, film and presentations will accompany the exhibit, Malifrando said.

The festival’s Vallejo Grand Victorian Homes Tour takes place Dec. 14, giving visitors a chance to view of some of Vallejo’s architectural gems, Malifrando said.

The self-guided tour will open with a reception from 3-5 p.m. Dec. 14 in the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum, the 1929 building and former Vallejo City Hall designed by architect Charles Perry.

Visitors may view the museum’s “Gazing Through the Looking-Glass” exhibit and hear old-time banjo performances.

Among the beverages at the reception will be Lake County and Napa regional wine, as well as chai tea from Panama Red Café on the Vallejo waterfront. Malifrando called the chai “a centuries-old beverage which has played an important role in many cultures.”

Visitors can then tour the homes from 4-7 p.m. that day.

“Aside from charming historic Vallejo homes, ranging from imaginative craftsmanship to Victorian and Italianate, there will be a special treat to visit one of Burning Man’s top creations by Shannon O’Hare,” Malifrando said.

O’Hare, the artist who also assumes the identity “Major Catastrophe,” is the creator of the Neverwas Haul, built in 2006 and made from 75 percent recycled materials.

“It is a self-propelled, three-story Victorian house that was built for the Burning Man Festival in 2006,” Malifrando said, calling the structure “a magical, nomadic 19th-century structure inspired by the works of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and other science fiction writers who focused on the imaginary technology of that age.

“This time, the Victorian Haul will be decked out for the holidays — a rare treat!” he said.

Tickets are $25 and are being sold online at brownpapertickets.com; at Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum, 734 Marin St., Vallejo; at Vallejo Convention and Visitors Bureau, 289 Mare Island Way; and at Pieced on Earth, 340 Georgia St.

The Wonderland Hotline is 844-344-8793, and those interested may visit the event’s Facebook page and its website, hattervallejo.com.