LA FLEET WEEK RETURNS TO PORT OF LOS ANGELES OVER
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND
Four-Day Event will Coincide with Fleet Week New York 2022, Establishing Simultaneous
Celebrations of U.S. Sea Services on the East and West Coasts
SAN PEDRO, Calif., March 7, 2022 – The LA Fleet Week Foundation, the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established to plan and support LA Fleet Week®, today announced that LA Fleet Week 2022 will take place over Memorial Day weekend, May 27-30, 2022, in San Pedro at the Port of Los Angeles. Moving LA Fleet Week from Labor Day weekend to Memorial Day weekend, for the first time in LA Fleet Week history, this year’s event will take place concurrently with Fleet Week New York. The two
major east and west coast Fleet Weeks creating simultaneous coast-to-coast celebrations over a holiday that recognizes all men and women, past and present, who have served our nation as members of the military.
LA Fleet Week is an annual, multi-day celebration of our nation’s Sea Services. Free to the general public, past LA Fleet Week activities have included active duty ship tours, military displays and equipment demonstrations, live entertainment, aircraft flyovers, STEM activities for kids of all ages, sports tournaments, and the Galley Wars culinary cook-off competition between Sailor, Marine and Coast Guard teams.
Established in 2016, the annual LA Fleet Week event is hosted at the Port of Los Angeles with the Exposition area in the footprint of the historic Battleship USS Iowa Museum. This year will be the first Fleet Week where active Navy and Coast Guard vessels are berthed in the outer harbor of the port to accommodate cruise vessel operations at the World Cruise Center facility, north of the Battleship IOWA. The Expo area at the Battleship IOWA will continue to be the centerpiece of the event, and a shuttle system will take visitors back and forth between the Expo area and the ship tours south of 22nd Street. To ensure fluid ingress and egress to the visiting ships, vehicle access to Dave Arian Way south of 22nd Street will be limited to marina tenants, service vehicles and Fleet Week shuttles.
“Each year, LA Fleet Week draws hundreds of thousands of visitors from across Southern California to the Port of Los Angeles, showcasing the extraordinary history, culture and hospitality offered by the waterfront communities of San Pedro and Wilmington,” explained Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragán. “Having introduced and worked to pass the legislation that designated the Battleship USS IOWA Museum as the National Museum of the Surface Navy, I’m particularly proud that the IOWA
continues to serve as the anchor for this annual celebration of the men and women of our nation’s Sea Services.”
“Battleship Iowa is the ideal location to host a celebration of the history and traditions of the United States Sea Services,” explained Jonathan Williams, president of the City of Los Angeles Fleet Week Foundation. “Battleship USS Iowa is home to the National Museum of the Surface Navy, the first and only national museum dedicated to the men and women of the Surface Navy. Scheduled to open in 2025, the National Museum will tell the story of the Surface Navy to raise awareness of the importance of the United States Surface Naval Forces’ role in international relations, free trade, humanitarian assistance, and technological innovations of the past, present and future.”
LA Fleet Week also provides a valuable venue in which senior service members from the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, meet and collaborate with local and state emergency response officials for Defense Support to Civil Agencies (DSCA) discussions and exercises focused on joint military/civilian emergency response scenarios in the event of a large-scale disaster in the greater Los Angeles area. This year’s event will feature the inaugural Freedom of the Seas Maritime Leadership Symposium, an executive-level engagement between supply chain users, providers, policymakers and protectors in which they can discuss the strength and viability of U.S. – Indo-Pacific ocean trade. Topics of discussion will focus on the state of our supply chain, as well as shared opportunities and risks relative to maintaining freedom of the seas. Leadership in attendance will receive a greater understanding of the linkages between military, government and private sector stakeholders that can be leveraged to ensure the strength and growth of America’s transpacific trade. Seminar panelists and guests are executive-level leaders in the maritime, business and government sectors.
For more information on LA Fleet Week and to receive updates on future LA Fleet Week events, visitwww.lafleetweek.com. Follow and engage with LA Fleet Week on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
About the LA Fleet Week Foundation
The LA Fleet Week Foundation is the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established to plan and support LA Fleet Week, Los Angeles’ largest military celebration. LA Fleet Week was created through a unique public-private partnership to connect Southern Californians with the men and women of our United States Sea Services. These connections are facilitated through numerous outreach and engagement opportunities across the region and at a centralized event location on the LA Waterfront at America’s largest port. The mission of LA Fleet Week Foundation is to plan, promote, honor and financially support Los Angeles Fleet Week, an annual celebration honoring the United States Sea Services and the men and women who presently serve or have served in the armed forces. The Foundation also educates the public about the history and traditions of the Sea Services and the contributions of the City of Los Angeles in support of them.
Media Contact:
Ken Hagihara, APR, Fellow PRSA, MCM
Integrity Public Relations, Inc.
949-768-4423 ext. 101
ken@integritypr.net