Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration!

Look what’s going on today in Balboa Park!

This year’s Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration is bringing dance, music, art and lots of cultural fun to the International Cottages! Until about 4 pm, that is. If you read this in time, you might go check it out!

Today’s event includes participants from the Houses of USA, Chamorros, China, India, Korea and Philippines.

Special festivals and lawn programs are held nearly every weekend at Balboa Park’s International Cottages. You’ve never been? You’re missing out! Here’s the webpage that lists all the upcoming events!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Korean Heritage Celebration at San Diego Library!

A super fun event was held today at San Diego’s downtown Central Library. Lunar New Year was kicked off with the Korean American Heritage Celebration!

The library’s Neil Morgan Auditorium was filled with a large audience as several organizations provided the free cultural entertainment.

It’s the Year of the Rabbit, and energetic, traditional Korean dancing and drumming had everyone hopping with happiness! Loads of kids were in attendance, and they got to come up on the stage and drum, too!

Beautiful, colorful fan dances brought oohs and aahs, and the drumming was like an exuberant heartbeat beating with the joy of living. A crazy cool drum performance that received loud applause was to the tune of Gangnam Style!

Performers included the San Diego Korean American Folk Dance Association and the San Diego Korean Pungmul Institute. The program was organized by the San Diego Library and the Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles.

I just happened to be walking through the library before the program began, and I’m so glad I stumbled upon it!

Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

San Diego cosplay group poses in Balboa Park!

Members of the San Diego cosplay group Science Fiction Coalition assembled today in Balboa Park for a photoshoot. And I happened to run into them as I walked around with my own camera!

I first encountered this awesome group several years ago in Balboa Park. Back then they were posing as members of the Justice League (with a few supervillains mixed in). Since then I’ve encountered the Science Fiction Coalition several times, mostly during Comic-Con and at the Comic-Con Museum.

If you’re into cosplay–costume play–and you live around San Diego, you probably want to check this group out. They have numerous members belonging to many diverse fandoms. Here’s their website!

Today I recognized the Addams Family, Phantom of the Opera, She-Hulk, Elvira and Chainsaw Man. There were a few others, too!

Very cool!

Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.

You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Nayarit celebrated at the House of Mexico!

The Mexican state of Nayarit was celebrated today at the International Cottages in Balboa Park!

Baile folklórico dancers performed outside the House of Mexico cottage, and various displays promoting tourism in Nayarit greeted surprised visitors wandering through the park.

As soon as I noticed all the costumes and smiles, I was drawn right in!

As I understand it, the Mexican Secretary of Tourism teamed up with the House of Mexico to promote Nayarit with this special cultural event.

The state of Nayarit is located on the west coast of Mexico and features popular beaches, fascinating history and beautiful scenery.

This is what my camera recorded…

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

Cool photographs for Star Trek Day!

Today, September 8, is Star Trek Day!

September 8, 1966 was the day when the very first Star Trek episode of the Original Series aired, titled The Man Trap. Remember the shape-shifting creature that sucked the salt out of Enterprise crewmembers?

For over fifty years, the popularity of the ever-growing science fiction franchise has persisted, providing the world with numerous movies, television series, novels, comics, video games, and even a few futuristic technological ideas that have (more or less) been realized!

In the past I’ve photographed all sorts of Star Trek related stuff: from Comic-Con cosplay and extraordinary Paramount exhibits, to artwork at IDW’s San Diego Comic Art Gallery, to the old Captain Kirk’s Coffee in South Park (a block from where Whoopie Goldberg–who played Guinan–once worked), to an amazing Gene Roddenberry exhibit at the Comic-Con Museum . . .

To celebrate Star Trek Day, please enjoy a few of these photographs!

If you’d like to see even more photos on my blog that concern Star Trek, plus written descriptions, click this tag and scroll down. You’ll notice lots of other fun stuff mixed in, too!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

House of Panama celebration in Balboa Park!

A big celebration brought many smiles and a joyful whirl of color to Balboa Park today! The House of Panama hosted a lawn program at the International Cottages!

A good crowd turned out to enjoy cultural entertainment, and to share excitement over the recent opening of the House of Panama’s new cottage.

Dance groups came down to San Diego all the way from Los Angeles and San Francisco. There were performances by Panamá Lindo; Panamá, Molas, Polleras y Tambores (the official House of Panama Dancers); Congo Istmeño; and Viva Panamá. Many local dignitaries also attended the event.

As I walked around Balboa Park, I swung by the International Cottages a few times to enjoy the lawn program. The next three photos were taken outside and inside the beautiful new House of Panama cottage…

On the lawn stage, there was a sea of colorful Panamanian folk dance costumes!

I caught the singing of National Anthems, then an emotional speech concerning the hard work done to open a new cottage in Balboa Park…

Then the dancing began!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

A crazy, amazing Saturday at Comic-Con!

Walking on a Saturday near the San Diego Convention Center during Comic-Con is something you’ll never forget. It is one of the zaniest, most colorful, most fantastic experiences imaginable.

If you dislike crowds, you might disagree. If you’re delighted by a flood of human activity and creativity, you won’t mind an occasional bump or pause. Your eyes will be so preoccupied you probably won’t notice.

Cosplay is everywhere. Fifth Avenue near the Gaslamp Quarter arch is where you’ll likely see the most costumes.

Everywhere you turn there are a million things to see.

Enjoy a bunch of photos. Come walk with me…

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Another cool batch of cosplay photographs!

As usual, there’s a whole lot of cosplay to enjoy during Comic-Con this year!

Every imaginable character from popular entertainment (movies, television, comic books, video games…) can be seen roaming the streets and sidewalks in downtown San Diego. Most of the outdoor cosplay is found in the Gaslamp or around the convention center.

I passed hundreds of awesome costumes yesterday and this morning. Every so often poses were struck and my camera shutter clicked!

Star Wars cosplay at Comic-Con.

Mighty Thor.

Maleficent.

Good old Captain America.

Sailor Moon.

Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.

Spider-Gwen.

Zenitsu Agatsuma of Demon Slayer.

A cool Spider-Man family at Comic-Con!

Another Cap and Spidey. Two very popular cosplay characters.

Chun-Li from Street Fighter.

Who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters!

Black Widow and Hawkeye.

Princess Peach.

Iron Patriot.

A very scary Batman.

Captain Marvel.

MTV astronaut!

The second Indiana Jones I’ve seen this year at Comic-Con.

Riddler has a diabolical scheme.

It isn’t every day you see flappers at a con.

Ciel Phantomhive.

Squid Game.

Dr. Artemus Peepers.

The Umbrella Academy cosplay.

Uh, oh. I didn’t catch who these folks are. Mad Max? Leave a comment if you know please!

Old school Hawkeye.

Here’s another one where I need help. Everyone knows Captain Marvel on the right. Who’s that on the left?

Jedi and his young Padawan practice using the Force on me. I’m an easy target.

How many Lokis are there in the multiverse, anyway?

Doctor Strange has been stripped of magic. He’s gonna use his fists.

Butterfly Lady of Children International uses her smile superpower to help kids in poverty.

Chainsaw Man looking for devils to saw.

Cloud Strife.

Vision.

Doctor Strange casts a magic spell!

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Even more awesome Comic-Con cosplay!

It wouldn’t be Comic-Con without tons of awesome cosplay all over the place!

Today, Friday, it was easy to spot cosplay every which way while walking near the San Diego Convention Center.

When the opportunity arose, and action poses were struck, my camera was clicking away!

This is one of those things that makes walking outside Comic-Con such an adventure every year. The experience is exhilarating, surprising, and you don’t want it to ever end!

Sho’Nuff of The Last Dragon.

Plastic Man.

Captain America.

Hawkeye. (She told me she’d beat Green Arrow, no contest.)

The Mandalorian cosplay.

Old school Daredevil.

Watch out Wonder Women. Joker is sneaking up.

Daredevil and Spider-Man combine forces. Villains can’t escape detection given both Spidey sense and Daredevil’s multiple super senses.

Imperial Clone Shock Trooper.

Look at all the Mario characters!

Mysterio is casting an illusion as he stands beside a mesmerized Spider-Man Noir.

Why is Mysterio’s helmet opaque? That darned fish bowl fogs up.

SCP MTF cosplay.

Gandalf and Saruman.

Cosplay inspired by The Haunted Mansion, and the Celestial Knight!

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Harry Potter witches and wizards invade Comic-Con!

Powerful witches and wizards have travelled from the world of Harry Potter to San Diego for Comic-Con 2022!

I saw the magical procession this morning and was astonished to discover so many J. K. Rowling characters present.

This awesome cosplay group has had their Comic-Con procession across from the San Diego Convention Center numerous times in the past. This year it appeared bigger and more amazing than ever!

How many characters do you recognize?

I see Snape and Dumbledore (two of them!) and McGonagall and Hagrid and Trelawney and Sprout and Tonks and Lupin and Fleur Delacour and Newt Scamander and Grindelwald and even a nascent Voldemort in the arms of that ratty Peter Pettigrew!

And Hermione! And Harry Potter himself!

And many others!

Enjoy some photos of this really great cosplay!

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!