Oh, da doo dah day! The dingy, doppy, daffy, Doo Dah Parade in Fawnskin, Big Bear Lake, California has been delighting crowds for years. Held on the last Saturday morning of July; the historical village of Fawnskin comes alive to host the event that parades on North Shore Drive in commemoration of the gold rush era in Holcomb Valley which is located in the San Bernardino Mountains. For the past 50 years, Big Bear Valley has celebrated Old Miners Days in July and August; the event draws thousands to the beautiful San Bernardino Mountain communities.
Kathy Murphy volunteered with the Old Miners Association to coordinate (organize?) the project in 1997, after having only three entries the previous year. That Doo Dah paraded down the street of one block and turned around to parade again! No one imagined that the absolutely ridiculous parade, that was meant to just be a spoof with no future, would catch on at all. But the Murphy Lady gathered her friends to volunteer their crazy ideas and give it a whirl. It went over fantastically with locals pitching in with their comical entries such as a man in a diaper bannered as “An Old Minor” and “Fawnskin Never-marching Band”. And of course there’s the “Fawnskin Air Force Fly Over” that queues the beginning of the Doo Dah Parade.
Through the years, the Old Miners Doo Dah Parade has caught on throughout Southern California with the most bizarre entries that presently number 40 plus. The wild, whimsical and wacky (do not call them floats because they’re anything but) Doo Dah Parade attracts several thousand spectators that cram into the small town of Fawnskin to watch the long procession. Can you imagine the greater population of Big Bear Valley turning out for this two-block-long event that happens in approximately 45 minutes or less?
Of course the Doo Dah Grand Marshals attract attention, as they are celebrities in several ways of notoriety. To name a few of those past marshals there has been Tom Core, Big Bear’s famed historian, Bob Brown known as the Leonardo of Leather, screen actress and singer, Shirley Jones, Noel Blanc of Warner Brothers Looney Tunes, Reunion previously known as The Lettermen, and other famed individuals.
For a weekend of Bear Valley’s amusement for the whole family on the mountain, visit the activities like the Doo Dah Parade followed by the Fawnskin Festival, (see Fawnskin Festival this website).
