Tag: costumes

Our nation’s Founders appear in San Diego!

Many historical figures who were instrumental in the founding of the United States of America appeared in San Diego today! They time traveled into the 21st century during a special Independence Day event at Balboa Park’s International Cottages!

Diverse people from around San Diego took to the stage in costume, recalling how our nation’s Founders brought us Liberty by rebelling against the despotic King George III of the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Revolutionary War period figures brought to life included Bernardo de Gálvez, the Governor of Spanish Louisiana; Betsy Ross; Martha Washington; Alexander Hamilton; Paul Revere; John Adams; Abigail Adams; African-Americans from the Caribbean who helped fight for American Independence; Crispus Attucks; Joseph Warren; John Dunlap; and various others.

The heroes of the American Revolution came from many backgrounds. Together, they defeated the mighty Great Britain and achieved something of a miracle.

I jotted down a few quick notes. Martha Washington spoke of heart, resilience and hope. Paul Revere explained how heroic deeds can lead to great change. There were many other words of wisdom.

Before and after these inspiring presentations, the House of USA had tasty treats at their table, including good old American hot dogs and hamburgers. Booths at the event included the Daughters of the American Revolution and Sons of the American Revolution.

Fun fact: Today is the 250th Anniversary of the Olive Branch Petition. What is that?

The Olive Branch Petition was a document adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 5, 1775, and signed on July 8, 1775. It was a final, albeit ultimately unsuccessful, attempt to avoid war between Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies. Read more about it here!

Enjoy photos from today’s event…

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Photos at Hawaiian Cultural Festival in San Diego!

This weekend the 2025 San Diego Ho’olaule’a Hawaiian Cultural Festival was held at Liberty Station in Point Loma.

The free event attracted a good crowd of happy people, who enjoyed Hawaiian traditional hula dance, song and culture, not to mention dozens of vendors, and a tempting variety of island food.

The main stage was a nonstop center of activity. I took photos as the hula dancing began and stayed for a good while. Several dance groups were represented. The dancers wore a variety of colorful costumes depending on the style of hula. There were dancers of all ages.

The event website explains how their goal is to perpetuate Hawaiian culture through music and dance, both kahiko (ancient) and ʻauana (modern), and we welcome hālau (hula dance schools) both near and far.

After watching hula dancing, I walked among the many vendors, visited the Hawaiian Cultural Village, then grabbed something to eat!

Enjoy these photos. Sorry, but I can’t properly identify the dances or groups.

If you go to this event next year, take better notes than me!

Now I’m just wandering around. A sunny summer morning in San Diego…

Here a segment of the long food row to one side of the festival…

Now I’ve arrived at the Hawaiian Cultural Village!

That table on the left by Lei Hulu of California was showcasing the Hawaiian art of feather craft…

A nearby sign explained that the word ipu is Hawaiian for gourd. The ipu is a hula implement that can be played as a drum. It produces two sounds, depending on whether you strike it with the base of your palm or your finger tips.

Kōnane is a two-player strategy board game from Hawaii which was invented by the ancient Hawaiian Polynesians. It’s a game I learned today and rapidly lost.

Lastly, I learned about the Bishop Museum.

They came all the way to San Diego to share smiles and information about their museum in Honolulu. Founded in 1889 by Charles Reed Bishop, in honor of his wife Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop—the last descendant of the royal Kamehameha dynasty—Bishop Museum houses the largest collection of Hawaiian and Pacific cultural artifacts and natural history specimens in the world.

The Bishop Museum has lots of cultural information online! Check out the museum here. Watch educational videos on their YouTube channel here!

The Bishop Museum table had this beautiful Hawaiian Honeycreeper, similar to one created by master woodcarver Haruo Uchiyama, on display!

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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 X.

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Make a cosplay superhero cape for Comic-Con!

The IDEA Lab on the 4th Floor of San Diego’s Central Library will be open for maker activities before and during Comic-Con 2025!

In addition to providing cosplay repair during Comic-Con, would-be superheroes can make superhero capes in the IDEA Lab on Saturday, July 19, 2025, between 2 pm and 5 pm.

All the materials you need are provided. Yes, there will be fabric, sewing machines, and the ability to create cool designs on your cape, as in the above photograph! It’s the first time they’ve had this cape making activity since before the pandemic.

The IDEA Lab also has 3D printing available for your other cool Comic-Con creations!

I was told today that additional activities might crop up during Comic-Con, but it’s still a month away. The cosplay repair and superhero cape making are definite, however!

Less than a month to go. Is your cosplay ready?

Here are some other fun photos from inside this maker space…

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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 X.

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Star Wars photos outside Petco Park!

May the Force be with the San Diego Padres!

No doubt the Force will come into play, considering it’s Star Wars Day at Petco Park as the Padres face the Royals in a home day game.

Many fans were converging on the ballpark in downtown San Diego, and fun Star Wars shirts and costumes and signs could be spotted in the crowd.

I took photographs!

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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 X.

Feel free to share!

Super fun Lucha Libre exhibit opens in San Diego!

A super fun exhibition opened in San Diego today at the Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park. It’s all about Mexican lucha libre wrestling!

Sangre, Sudor, y Mito: The Art and Tradition of Mexican Lucha Libre features so much cool stuff, I hardly know how to describe it all!

Young and old, lucha libre fans and those who are merely curious–all will enjoy seeing actual masks and costumes worn by wrestling stars, not to mention artwork, posters, comic books, championship belts, collectibles and more.

Fans of Chula Vista’s own legendary Rey Mysterio, popular favorite and many-time international champion who continues to work for WWE, will love seeing how he is generously represented in the exhibit, too!

I was fortunate to get a sneak preview this morning. The exhibition is substantial, taking up the entire second level of the Comic-Con Museum. It has been assembled with the help of Museo de Lucha Libre Tijuana Mexicana.

Topics explored in the exhibition include lucha libre’s origin in Mexico; its impact on the popular culture through many generations; its mythic qualities; the varieties of male luchador and female luchadora characters; luchadora pioneers and their ongoing struggle for recognition and equality; how lucha libre has become increasingly influencial around the world . . .

Yes, anything and everything concerning lucha libre is celebrated!

In essence, lucha libre performers are living, breathing superheroes (or villains). Certain legendary luchadores are revered by millions of fans throughout Mexico. How formidable are these masked wrestlers? Movie posters have them battling gangsters and even vampires!

Lots of fun! Bring the kids!

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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 X.

Feel free to share!

250th Anniversary of Revolutionary War in San Diego!

April 19, 2025 is the 250th Anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which marked the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. A special event celebrating that first victory of patriotic Minutemen over the redcoats of the Kingdom of Great Britain was held today in San Diego!

At Mormon Battalion Historic Site in Old Town, local chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution and Sons of the American Revolution welcomed the public to the colorful and educational event.

DAR and SAR members, who are descended from patriots of the American Revolutionary War, were dressed in colonial garb. Historical information was available at a number of tables.

I was met by many smiles!

Above is the City of San Diego Proclamation concerning the 250th Anniversary of the Battle of Lexington Concord.

Whereas, on this day…the first shots of the American Revolutionary War were fired at Lexington and Concord, igniting a struggle for liberty and self-government that would shape the course of history…

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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 X.

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Persian dance and culture in Balboa Park!

The House of Iran had their lawn program today at the International Cottages in Balboa Park. Their cultural program is held every year on the Sunday following the Persian New Year, which is called Nowruz. Nowruz occurs on the day of the vernal equinox, which is the first day of Spring.

Speeches and introductions during the event were largely in Farsi, which made it difficult for an English speaker like myself to understand all that was going on. I did understand that the program celebrated thousands of years of Persian history and culture.

There was the awarding of scholarships to young people and a thank you to the San Diego Police Department. There was Afsoon Johnston, a world champion wrestling medalist whose family fled Iran. There was a tent serving tasty, freshly made kabab, and a big crowd clapping to lots of happy dancing and music!

You can see some of traditional costumes. You can also see how members of the audience took to the stage to dance!

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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 X.

Feel free to share!

San Diego Square Dance Association’s Fiesta de la Cuadrilla!

Look what I discovered today! The San Diego Square Dance Association is hosting their 75th annual Fiesta de la Cuadrilla in Balboa Park!

The lively “round dancing” was taking place inside the Balboa Park Club building’s huge ballroom. Not only was the energetic dancing fun to watch, and the dance calling with a Western twang fun to hear, but there were exhibits off to one side of the room that concerned the fascinating history and culture of square dance!

As you can see from my photographs, beautiful square dance dresses and a variety of interesting artifacts filled many tables.

Thanks to Wendy for inviting me into the big event for a peek! Everybody participating was definitely having a ton of fun!

If you’d like to learn more about square dancing in San Diego and this popular event in particular (which continues on Sunday, March 23, 2025), click here!

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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 X.

Feel free to share!

Halloween creeps into San Diego’s Gaslamp!

Should we be frightened? Halloween has crept into San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter!

I took these spooky (and fun) photographs early this morning in dim light, then in the late afternoon as restaurants and bars prepared for a terrifying onslaught of evening partiers.

Trick or treat!

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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 X.

Halloween fun with San Diego Youth Symphony!

This afternoon, the San Diego Youth Symphony took to the stage at Balboa Park’s Spreckels Organ Pavilion, to perform their traditional Halloween concert. And many of the young musicians were in costume!

I noticed cows, Harry Potter, the Riddler, a Super Mario mushroom . . . and two adult conductors who were quite evil-looking!

Spooky pieces played during the fun concert included Valse Diabolique, The Boogie Man Blues, Themes from Harry Potter, Waltz of the Wicked, and Curse of the Rosin Eating Zombies From Outer Space! Yes, that last one is a thing. I’m not kidding!

I took photos of a few fun costumes before and during the concert…

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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 X.