Tiburon diversity task force plans Diwali ferry cruise; recounts Juneteenth and Jewish festival attendance

The Tiburon Town Diversity & Inclusion Task Force on Sept. 17 reviewed recent community festivals and finalized logistics for a limited-capacity Diwali sunset cruise.

Task force members reported that both Juneteenth and the town’s Jewish festival drew strong attendance. An at-large member who led the Juneteenth effort said the hip-hop performance and an interactive dance/rap segment were crowd highlights, a horse appeared at the event, and many local businesses staffed vendor tables. One scheduled food vendor, identified in the meeting as Lehi Lane, canceled on short notice; The Bungalow provided a beverage table. The Juneteenth organizer reported about $1,200–$1,400 remained from the event budget and said they would like to reserve those funds for a future Juneteenth if permitted.

Looking ahead, the task force described plans for a Diwali event set for Oct. 10 as a sunset cruise on the Angel Island ferry. Organizers said tickets will be distributed through Eventbrite, the ferry has a hard capacity cap of 192, and boarding will occur between 6:10 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The task force said registrations are already approaching half the ferry’s capacity. The group asked for a volunteer to manage ticket collection at boarding using a printed Eventbrite guest list and discussed approaches to handling no-shows, including creating a waiting list or starting on-site boarding after a cutoff time to fill empty seats.

Members emphasized the event’s family-oriented programming: food, Bollywood music, designated areas for dancing, and children’s crafts. Organizers noted the ferry format is more logistically complex than open-ground events because of the strict boarding window and capacity limit.

No formal motions or votes were taken on event funding or logistics at the meeting. The task force adjourned and prepared to transition to the Town Council meeting.