The fourth Deep Creek Lighted Boat Parade goes out on the Magothy side of Arnold on Saturday, November 21, at 5 p.m. The boaters fund the whole thing, and a lot rides on the judging. Half of what the captains put in goes to the best-decorated boat. The other half goes to a charity that winning captain chooses. So the vote for the best boat also picks which cause gets the money, and this year that vote is nine days away.
The money starts coming in tonight.
Thursday Night at Donnelly's Dockside
The captains' meeting is Thursday, November 12, at 6:30 p.m. in the downstairs bar at Donnelly's Dockside, 1050 Deep Creek Ave. The organizers will go over the route and rules and hold the annual slip auction there.
Tonight's auction is where the money starts, and the event listing is open about why captains bid. A boat that took weeks to decorate shouldn't have to head home right after the parade. A slip at Donnelly's lets the crew tie up for the after-party with the boat still lit up for everyone to see. The money comes from three places:
- Entry fees. Each boat pays $35 to enter.
- The slip auction. Captains bid tonight for after-party slips at Donnelly's.
- The raffle. Raffle money goes into the same pot.
The listing says all of it pays for prize money and the charity donation. To enter a boat, you message the organizer through the event listing. More details are promised as the date gets closer.
Two Winners, Two Different Causes
The split comes from what happened in the last two parades. In each one, the captain who won sent the donation somewhere different.
| 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Parade date | November 16 | November 22 |
| Boats in the water | 35 | 37 |
| Winning boat | Sweet & Salty, a 44-foot catamaran | High Anxiety |
| Theme | "Caribbean Christmas" | "Santa in the Deep Blue Sea" |
| Charity chosen by the winner | Blue Skies Ministries, $1,600 | Maryland Food Bank, $2,100 |
In 2024, the winning catamaran belonged to a couple from Atlantis, the community across the creek. It's a charter boat that spends winters in the Caribbean, which explains the inflatable palm trees and the reggae, according to Severna Park Voice. The winners took home an $800 cash prize that year. At the captains' meeting before the parade, Tri-State Steel & Erectors owner Ron Umlandt, a Donnelly's regular, said his company would match the charity donation.
The 2025 winner, High Anxiety, was captained by Arnold resident Adam Messer. That year a panel of judges picked the winner and spectators also voted by QR code. Both chose the same boat. Messer picked the Maryland Food Bank, which received $2,100 the week after the parade, Severna Park Voice reported. The 2026 event listing says a judging panel will pick the best-decorated boats again. It also says last year's winning captain took home more than $2,100 in prize money.
Whoever builds the best boat this month makes the same choice. It could be a food bank, a children's ministry, or something else nobody has picked yet.
How One Creek Party Turned Into a Parade
Jack Bahen lives at the mouth of Deep Creek. He told Severna Park Voice that he had gotten to know his Arnold neighbors from his dock but barely knew the people across the water in Atlantis. So he threw a party at Donnelly's Dockside for both sides and called it #UniteTheCreek. That party grew into the parade. The idea came from his yearly trips downtown to the Eastport Yacht Club's lights parade:
"Why don't we do this on our creek?"
Weather canceled his first try. In 2023 the parade finally went out with more than 20 boats, and both Donnelly's and the neighborhood piers filled with spectators. After that, Bahen and restaurant owner Dan Donnelly decided to plan a bigger 2024 parade. Donnelly's had been the Deep Creek Restaurant until Donnelly and Don Kelly started the current business in 2017, according to an earlier Severna Park Voice profile.
The boat count has gone up every year: more than 20 in 2023, 35 in 2024, then 37 in 2025. Most of the boats are small craft owned by people from Arnold, Annapolis and Pasadena. In 2024, four Broadneck High School seniors decorated a boat and joined the parade. After last year's parade, Bahen said it "was bigger and better than every year prior," and that they "raised more money, we had more boats (and) more people." He said he hopes to add corporate fundraising for charity in 2026.
As for what it's all for, Donnelly put it simply in 2024: "We have so much fun doing it and it's all about the community."
Saturday the 21st, by the Clock
The parade starts just after dark, so the decorations show up well from shore.
- 4:48 p.m. Sunset in Annapolis on November 21.
- 5:00 p.m. The parade starts on Deep Creek, about twelve minutes after sunset.
- After the parade Boats and spectators meet at Donnelly's Dockside for the official after-party. The captains who won slips at tonight's auction tie up there.
- 10:00 p.m. Donnelly's kitchen closes on Saturdays. On Fridays it also runs 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
In 2024, the boats went up and down the creek early in the evening, Severna Park Voice wrote. The organizers will go over this year's route with captains at tonight's meeting. The SpinSheet Chesapeake event calendar also lists November 21 for the parade.
Watching From Land
Donnelly's has been the main place to watch from land. Last year hundreds of spectators gathered at the restaurant for food, drinks and a good view of the creek. In 2024 local streets were jammed with parked cars, and Donnelly's added staff, live music and outdoor food and drink service to handle the crowd. Bahen and Donnelly were already thinking about parking for the next year when that parade ended. If you live close enough to walk, walking is the easy choice. The restaurant's number is (410) 757-4045.
The event's Facebook page is where the organizer posts updates. Severna Park Voice pointed readers there for 2026 news after last year's parade. If the weather turns on the 21st, check there before you head to the creek.
Arnold is a peninsula, and it has more holiday lights to see than this one creek. Sandy Point's Lights on the Bay changes the park's daytime hours this time of year, and we covered that in our Broadneck Trail guide.
At Chesapeake Home Team, we keep up with what's happening on the Magothy, from the creeks off Arnold to the shoreline across the water. Want to know which waterfront streets around Deep Creek have docks and slips, or what living on the water in Arnold day to day is like? Let's Connect.
