About one month ago we told you about driftwood taking over the beaches of Morro Bay following the storms
Now, preparations are underway to clear the area for a festival happening there this weekend.
Morro Rock Beach was covered in driftwood just days ago and now, the beach is clear thanks to a large-scale clean-up that only took two days.
“A couple of years ago, we did have some big rains, but this is, by far, the most driftwood that I’ve seen here,” said Visit Morro Bay Executive Director Michael Wambolt.
Most of that driftwood was moved out of the way this week as Morro Bay city leaders say they are preparing to welcome 10,000 visitors this weekend.
“It would have been a trip hazard basically out there,” said Morro Bay Rotary Club President John Solu.
This all started as a Facebook post asking for help clearing driftwood ahead of the festival.
The president of the Morro Bay Rotary Club took notice and asked city leaders for help.
“The city public works director contacted me and said we’ll have it done by Thursday night and where are we? We’re Thursday at 4 o’clock in the afternoon and it’s completely done,” said Solu.
Public works crews used tractors to clear the beach and push the driftwood into several large piles.
“Seeing the city come together to help clean this up for the event has been a huge help for us,” added Wambolt.
The preparations don’t stop at cleaning the beach.
A giant mural has been painted on the side of David J Rogers Fine Art Gallery to ring in the kite festival.
“It’s a new thing, it’s a creative process,” said Dave Rogers, who designed the art piece.
The mural took about two weeks to create, and Rogers hopes it adds to the experience.
“The majority of people that come to the central coast are coming from areas like Bakersfield or Fresno. What they really want to take home with them is a piece of the experience,” he said.
The Morro Bay Kite Festival starts a day early this year with an LED light show starting Friday at 7 p.m.
The festival includes two full days of competition on Saturday and Sunday at Morro Rock Beach.
The festival will also be featured on a tv show called “Small Town, Big Story” and crews will be out filming this weekend.
