Old Fisherman's Wharf Turns 181 With a Free Party on Top and Piling Repairs Underneath
On Sunday, October 11, the Fisherman's Wharf Association is holding a free 181st birthday party for Monterey's Old Fisherman's Wharf, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Contractors are working under the same planks. The city's Wharf 1 repair project covers timber piles, concrete foundations and handrails, and the Monterey Herald reported the work still going on September 28.
The party and the repairs are connected by money. The wharf's maintenance is paid for out of what the wharf earns, which ties together the crew under the boards, the restaurants on top and the free events filling this month's calendar.
In July 2025, the Monterey City Council gave Sweetwater Construction Inc. a $983,389 contract for the Wharf 1 work. The city's construction updates page says the job covers various structural elements and had been paused for material procurement and permit compliance. In a schedule dated the week of September 7, 2026, the city expected work to resume the week of September 14. The Herald's September 28 report confirmed it had resumed.
The work has been needed for a long time. In April 2025, KSBW covered a Monterey County Civil Grand Jury investigation that rated both Old Fisherman's Wharf and the Commercial Wharf in "poor" structural condition. The jury cited engineering reports from 2017 and 2024 that found eight urgent repair sites on Wharf 1. Between those two reports, the share of bearing piles needing repair rose from 70% to 81%. The grand jury listed the reasons for delay as deferred action, disagreements between city and leaseholder evaluations, complicated permitting across multiple agencies, and insufficient funding.
No completion date for the Sweetwater contract has been published, and neither has a map of the work area. Check the city's construction updates page before assuming any stretch of railing or decking is open or closed.
The funding problem explains why the wharf's busy months matter. According to the same KSBW report, state law requires wharf revenue to pay for operations, construction and maintenance across Monterey's broader Tidelands area. The city's Tidelands Fund took in $3.3 million in lease revenue in 2024, and as of April 2025 it faced a $17 million shortfall for wharf repairs over the following five years.
Lease revenue comes from the businesses on the wharf. A wharf people avoid is a weaker place to hold a lease, and a wharf people keep visiting is the source of the money for its own pilings. One storefront shows how that plays out.
Sal Tedesco spent 32 years at 6 Fisherman's Wharf. He started in 1994 as general manager of what was then The Captain's Gig, a restaurant known for fish and chips that legendary Monterey chef John Pisto opened in the early 1960s. In the 2000s, Tedesco and his wife Ashley bought it and turned it into Paluca Trattoria, an Italian seafood restaurant.
Monterey County NOW reported that his lease with the city was coming up for renewal. After weighing his options, he decided to sell. He sold to Mike Yaley, whose wife's family had been part of the restaurant's ownership for more than 20 years. Yaley took over on September 1 after training alongside Tedesco since early July, and he kept the kitchen team and most of the waitstaff.
"Seafood and pasta. I'm not going to fix something that's not broken." Mike Yaley, describing the concept to Monterey County NOW
By Monterey County NOW's September 17, 2026 food roundup, the name change was complete. The restaurant is now The Gig, serving seafood and pasta at 6 Fisherman's Wharf, Suite D. Its website says Quincy and Mike Yaley reimagined the former Captain's Gig and Paluca space. The new name looks back about six decades, and the change came about because a lease came up for renewal.
The October 11 program focuses on the wharf's history more than most free festivals do.
The General Pershing has a Monterey story of its own. Angelo Siino came to America from Sicily with his family between 1901 and 1903. In 1920, he opened the Siino Boat Works on Wave Street and later moved it next to Hovden Cannery. In 1930, Neno DiMaggio, Joe DiMaggio's first cousin, commissioned him to build the largest fishing boat he had ever attempted. Today, the third generation of Siinos is restoring the boat and dedicating it to a youth program called Classroom on the Bay.
The essay contest is built on the Wharf's online collection of about 450 historical photos. Entries are 100 words or fewer, and prizes are paid in Wharf Dollars. Two Wharf pages give different deadlines, October 11 and October 13. Confirm the deadline at montereywharf.com or by calling (831) 238-0777 before you submit.
The birthday party starts a month of free events within a few blocks of the wharf.
| Date | Event | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fridays through Oct. 30 | Paseo Night Market | Alvarado Mall, by the Portola Hotel | 4–8 p.m. |
| Sun., Oct. 11 | 181st Wharf Birthday Party | Old Fisherman's Wharf | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | California Seaweed Festival | Old Custom House Plaza | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | Halloween on the Wharf | Old Fisherman's Wharf | 4–7 p.m. |
The Paseo Night Market is new this fall. It started September 18 with 20 booths from local farmers, artisans and food producers. The last scheduled Friday, October 30, falls the night before Halloween on the Wharf, which offers trick-or-treating and a costume contest.
The seventh annual California Seaweed Festival is run by a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by Janet Kübler and Simona Augyte. The program includes talks, demonstrations, seaweed tastings and hands-on exploration of the science, food and culture around seaweed. Old Custom House Plaza sits right at the foot of the wharf, so it's easy to combine with a walk out on the boards.
If you want something sweet on the way, two gelato shops opened in time for Monterey County NOW's September 17 roundup. Gelato Pazzo, owned by Carl Alasko, is at 482 Alvarado St., and Gelato-by-the-Sea has added a location at 700 Cannery Row, next to The Fish Hopper.
Parking is the one change this month that can catch locals off guard. On September 25, the City of Monterey announced that POM, its parking meter vendor, would shut down effective October 1. City meters can't take credit cards until that's fixed. As of October 2, the city's parking page still showed that notice and gave no date for restoring card payments.
Until then, you can pay in two ways:
For a sense of cost, the city lists $1.50 an hour for Zone 1 street meters in the Cannery Row District, $2.00 an hour for Zone 2 along Wave Street and its cross streets, and $1.75 an hour at Lot #24 at Cannery Row and Foam. Setting up the app takes a few minutes at home, and it saves digging for quarters on a busy Sunday with live music and cake at 3:30.
If you're thinking about how your own home's history, upkeep and condition will come across when it goes on the market, the team at Room Real Estate can walk you through what our in-house prep, staging and photography would look like for your property. Request a Quote, and we'll put a plan together around your timeline.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
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