On the first Saturday of May for more than a century, hundreds of recreational boats have paraded from Portage Bay through the Montlake Cut for Seattle Yacht Club's Opening Day parade to celebrate the official opening of Seattle's boating season. In 1987, that weekend saw the addition of the Windermere Cup, a regatta featuring the University of Washington and other college crew teams from across the country and the world. Now, the first weekend of May combines both of those events, plus the ticketed 21+ Friday night Party on the Cut kickoff, for one giant rowing extravaganza. It's free to watch the action from the shore, and there's also food and drink vendors, a bouncy house and build-a-boat station for kids, and lots of screaming fans.