Cruise Nite Friday, Main Street, Downtown
May 01, 2013
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Mother Nature will be smiling down on Santa Paula Friday with warm weather and clear skies - perfect to enjoy plenty of hot cars at Cruise Nite in historic Downtown Santa Paula!
Now in its 15th annual season, Cruise Nite is held the First Friday of each month (April through October) and lines East Main Street with the most spectacular car show in Ventura County. Thousands of people flock to the historic Downtown for Cruise Nite, which brings visitors from as far away as Bakersfield, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties.
And that includes those who drive their sweet rides - all pre-1975 models - to the historic Downtown for an evening of car lore and sharing. Visitors hoping to snag a display parking space often arrive in the city mid-afternoon and spend a while exploring and enjoying local sights and eateries.
Cruise Nite features a rainbow-colored display of vintage vehicles, lively restaurants and livelier music as a backdrop to a strong dose of socialization and fun for the whole family. “It’s been just great this evening, jammed all night,” Bill Shiells of Mupu Grill said during the April Cruise Nite.
Each First Friday of the month during Cruise Nite season local restaurants gear up for an influx of car owners and lovers, stores stay open later for browsers, and local bands perform under the city’s famed Odd Fellows Clock Tower. Sponsored by the Santa Paula Police Officers Association and Chamber of Commerce, retired SPPD Officers Henry Aguilar and Dave Anderson coordinate each month’s Cruise Nite.
It’s easy to see why Cruise Nite is the most famous car show in the Tri-Counties: flashes of highly-polished chrome and color fill East Main Street from 10th to 7th streets, with Cruise Nite cars filling the parking along the main drag and dozens of vehicles spilling onto the side streets. Collectible T-shirts designed by Wendell Dowling, each month highlighting a different Cruise Nite vehicle, are sold at the event.
Official Cruise Nite hours start when Main Street is closed, from about 5 p.m. to dark. See you Friday at Cruise Nite!
