New to the site: the Bonita Museum & Cultural Center has confirmed the 54th Annual BonitaFest for Saturday, September 12, 2026, with the community’s Twilight Trail Parade starting at the Sunnyside Saddle Club arena in Rohr Park and ending at the Bonita Museum & Cultural Center/Sunnyside Library complex on Bonita Road, where the Bonitafest Performing Arts Festival follows. A companion exhibition, “The Story of BonitaFest From the Archives,” runs at the museum September 5–26.
BonitaFest has been a South Bay tradition for over five decades, blending an equestrian and community parade (past editions have featured horses, decorated bikes, strollers, and even llamas and potbelly pigs circling the Chula Vista Municipal Golf Course) with an evening of live performances from local school choirs, bands, and dance groups. The festival is typically followed later in the month by the Bonitafest Melodrama, a musical-comedy stage production at the Sweetwater Community Church based on local Sweetwater Valley history.
As of this writing, exact parade start time and full performing-arts lineup for 2026 had not yet been published on the museum’s site — the times above are estimated based on recent years’ schedules, so check with the Bonita Museum & Cultural Center closer to the date to confirm.
For details visit bonitahistoricalsociety.org
