REMINDER: 'Burning Boat Festival' is New Year's Eve in Des Moines

REMINDER: The first-ever “Burning Boat Festival” will be held on New Year’s Eve at Des Moines Beach Park this Saturday night, Dec. 31, 2022, from 6 p.m. – midnight.

This event is being sponsored by Des Moines Police, South King Fire and Maritime High School, and will culminate in the burning of a boat made by students at Maritime High School – full of memories, wishes and notes – at midnight.

“Say goodbye to 2022 and anything else you’d like to forget from the year!”

The entire evening will be full of fun events, including a bag pipe march around 6:20 p.m.

Here’s more from the Seattle Southside Regional Tourism Authority:

Write down all of your anguish and sadness and misfortune experienced in the last year or wishes and goals for the new year. Take your note and toss it into the wooden boat. At the end of the night, the boat will be lit on fire and to purge all of your sadness or release your wishes into the universe.

For the month of December, we will be collecting notes at hotels throughout Seattle Southside in locked boxes located in the dining areas. On December 30th the notes will be collected and added to the boat to be set ablaze at midnight to ring in the New Year.

Purchase tickets at https://givebutter.com/BurningBoatFestival or donate by texting “Burn” to 53555.

This is a family friendly event with propane fire pits, s’mores, hot cocoa, and much much more.

Funds raised by ticket sales will go towards raising awareness about mental health issues including substance abuse.

The wooden boat is being built by students at Maritime High and will be dry wood with no chemicals added that would cause harm to the environment. Safety measures are being put in place to make sure that this is a fun, safe, and enjoyable experience for everyone. Tickets will sell fast as there is a limited number of spots so get yours soon!

Sponsorship opportunities are available for you or your business to be involved in this historic event.

“Together we can make a difference and funds raised will go to benefit Valley Cities. Valley Cities provides inpatient and outpatient mental health and substance use disorder treatment, along with support services for adults, children, and families living in King County.

“We believe that with treatment, anything is possible.”

If you are unable to attend the actual boat burning event, it will livestream on the Waterland Blog’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/waterlandblog (be sure to “Like” that page to receive a reminder), then an edited version will be posted (likely the next day) on www.waterlandblog.com.

Officials said that students from Maritime High are “eagerly engaged and genuinely excited about doing something for such a great cause.”

“We can’t thank them enough for being a sponsor for the Burning Boat Festival.”

Below are photos of the boat build: