Started in the 1980s, the Springtime festival called “Day at the Docks” host over 50 arts and crafts vendors and a dozen food vendors. This year the Days at the Docks event is being held on April 28 & 29, 2012, with vendors selling their wares from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm under the Holden Beach Bridge.
Day at the Docks is free to the public with free parking and free live entertainment all day. Live music starts around 11:00 a.m.
This year there will be a King Mackerel Fishing Tournament, inflatable rides for the kids, huge kites flying overhead and a horseshoe tournament.
Around 3 pm (depending on the tides), the world famous “Bopple Race” takes place. Buy your “Bopples” from any merchant prior to or at the festival for a dollar.
The Holden Beach Mayor and commissioners toss the “Bopples” from the atop the Holden Beach bridge and the currents carry them toward the designated finish line. If your Bopple is first or 
second to cross the finish line, you win a handsome prize. What’s a “Bopple?” Sorry, you’ll have to attend to find that out.
If you are interested in being an arts and crafts vendor at Day at the Docks, you may download the Arts and Crafts Application Form Here.
If you are interested in being a food vendor for Day at the Docks, you may download the Food Vendor Application Form here.
Over 25 years ago a small group of community leaders met and decided that they needed an event to showcase the great fall fishing Southport-Oak Island area has to offer. The prize money for the first tournament was guaranteed by those community leaders signing a promissory note at a local financial institution – thus the U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament was born.