A Historic Look Back at Fog Fest

A festival that almost never started will kick off its 26th annual edition in less than one week.

The Pacific Coast Fog Fest started in 1986 when the Pacifica City Council approved the event by a narrow margin of three in support, two against, according to a statement from the city.

Though a city appointed committee organized Fog Fest in its early years, the festival is now run by a volunteer-led group of Pacificans collectively known as Fog Fest Organizing Group (FFOG).

FFOG was formed by "a group of community-minded citizens who didn’t want to see the Fog Fest die," according to a statement from the group's website.

The Pacifica Historical Society once created a 30-minute documentary on Fog Fest history which aired as a TV segment of the society's public access television show called Footprints of Pacifica.

Current society president, Kathleen Manning, said that the festival is as much a part of Pacifica history as the other subjects examined in the 108 Footprints of Pacifica segments filmed to-date.

"[Fog Fest] brings the community together. Its a keeper," Manning said.

Just as the historical society participates in the Fog Fest parade each year, dozens of other community organizations are also involved.

Fog Fest gives back to those organizations with the Gift For Pacifica Fund which is a collective of profits from the festival. The fund has raised over $525,000 to-date which these organizations have received in-part.

Fog Fest has become a part of city government history, history as told by a local preservationist group, and continues to make history through a gifting fund.

Become a part of that history in the making this weekend. See here for more on .