Tag: costumes

A maypole and Swedish fun in Balboa Park!

The House of Sweden celebrated their nation’s culture today during a lawn program at Balboa Park’s International Cottages. The fun event included Swedish folk costumes, traditional dancing, pop music, and a wild summer dance around a maypole!

The event began with a festive procession, and a demonstration of the colorful folk costumes worn by House of Sweden members. I learned many of the handmade costumes represent different provinces in Sweden.

Then the Balboa Park Dancers entertained the crowd with various Swedish folk dances. Many of the old dances involve courtship. A couple of the dances stimulated laughter with their good-natured, bawdy humor.

Between folk dance performances, the Happy Strummers–a collection of mostly ukulele playing musicians–rocked the crowd with three ABBA hits: Waterloo, Dancing Queen and Mama Mia. The audience provided several dancing queens!

Then the grand finale! Nearly everyone watching the lawn program joined hands around the flower-bedecked maypole and began the crazy Små Grodorna frog dance!

It was a perfect summer’s day!

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Photos of 54th Annual Chicano Park Day.

Please enjoy this collection of photographs taken today during the 54th Annual Chicano Park Day event in Barrio Logan.

For 2024, the theme of Chicano Park Day was Bringing Back the True Spirit and Energy of the Chicano Park Takeover. As I walked about, I saw that spirit and energy!

The event by all appearances is more popular than ever. A huge crowd surrounded the central Kioko to experience diverse performances, including Azteca and folklorico dancing and poetry readings. There were also speeches about the history of Chicano Park and the struggles and pride represented in its murals.

All around Chicano Park one could meet artists (including some of the renowned muralists), learn about community organizations, support local businesses, check out lowriders and other cool cars (and motorcycles and bicycles!), listen to live music, ride a fun little train for kids, and eat lots of great Mexican food.

And, of course, above all, there were the world-famous murals!

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Don Diego memories at San Diego History Center!

Do you remember Don Diego?

For four decades, Don Diego was a fixture at the Del Mar Fair. With a friendly “¡Bienvenidos Amigos!” the dashing goodwill ambassador greeted visitors to the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

Sombrero in hand, typically in dress representing a gentleman Mexican ranchero, Don Diego also introduced Grandstand shows and escorted the Fairest of the Fair beauty queen and her court.

An exhibition at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park opened several days ago which includes a unique tribute to the fair’s iconic Don Diego, who in reality was actor Domingo Tomás Hernández Bethencourt.

The exhibition is titled Fashion Redux 2024. In its 13th year, the annual event is a collaboration between the San Diego History Center and Mesa College’s Fashion Program.

What immediately caught my eye today were the two ensembles once worn by Don Diego, which belong to the San Diego History Center’s very extensive Historic Textile Collection.

Visitors to the exhibition can also watch old video footage that shows Don Diego at the Del Mar Fair.

A few personal memories were rekindled. As a child my family would visit the fair, and I remember seeing Don Diego on promotional material and on television. He was quite famous. I don’t recall whether I saw him in person. I think I might have. That was a long time ago.

Tommy “Don Diego” Hernandez passed away in 1984.

Actor Tommy Hernandez, as Don Diego, with 1958 Fairest of the Fair winner, Raquel Tejada. She became famous as Raquel Welch during her later acting career.

Don Diego ensemble, inspired by traditional Mexican charro costumes.

Brown felted cardboard sombrero worn by Don Diego.

Don Diego ensemble, inspired by traditional Spanish flamenco costumes.

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Deadpool from Chile visits Balboa Park!

Deadpool has traveled from Chile in South America to San Diego, and I found him hanging out today in Balboa Park!

This young man with the cool Deadpool cosplay, posing for photographs on El Prado, didn’t speak much English. But I did ascertain he loves the Deadpool movies.

I don’t know if he’s in pursuit of any supervillains at the moment. Perhaps his buddy Wolverine was nearby, but I didn’t see him.

You never know what or who you’ll encounter in wonderful Balboa Park!

If you’re reading this on a serious San Diego newsfeed, sorry. I’m just a blogger who likes to walk around the city, and sometimes I post silly, fun things.

Perhaps you’ll enjoy a quick smile before returning to a world where depressing news is far too common.

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Tintypes of Old Town folks in period attire!

Employees and volunteers at Old Town San Diego State Historic Park have posed for old-fashioned tintype photographs, while dressed in period attire!

I spotted this display recently in front of the Robinson-Rose House Visitors Center. The “nineteenth century reproduction clothing” in these photographs reflects Old Town’s interpretive period, which is between 1821 and 1872.

If you want to see more photos of California State Park folks in period attire, click here. Or head over to Old Town San Diego State Historic Park and simply walk around. You’ll likely meet staff and volunteers who appear to have emerged from our city’s early history!

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Cosplayers gather for St. Patrick’s Day Parade!

Superheroes and supervillains and other pop culture characters gathered this morning in San Diego to participate in the big annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade!

Members from several San Diego and Southern California cosplay groups gathered on Fifth Avenue before the start of the parade and posed for fun photographs! How many costumed characters do you recognize?

Hmm… I believe I see some sort of Green Lantern America, Alvin, Hermione, Spidey, Link, Elves from Middle Earth, Ghostbusters battling Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, good old Cap, a Black Widow, Obi-Wan Kenobi (and his apparent clone), Superman well-dressed in kryptonite armor, a bright green Irish Wookiee, Princess Peach, Batgirl, Gambit, the Jolly Green Giant (villains eat your vegetables or else!), a Tusken Raider, Dude Vader, and…

Super cool!

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Dragons and lions invade San Diego’s Gaslamp!

Dragons and lions have invaded San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter this weekend!

The colorful “Chinese New Year Faire San Diego” is being held downtown, on 3rd Avenue and J Street near the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum. The annual festival is hosted by the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association. The event seems to grow larger every year!

It’s the Year of the Dragon, and there’s one enormous dragon moving sinuously through the crowd. And lucky, happy lion dancers parading down the street, too!

Up on the stage there are school kids in costume dancing and ladies smiling during a Chinese fashion show. Thao French, whose amazing Year of the Dragon art you’ve seen in Little Saigon recently, is spray painting another dragon mural. There are vendors everywhere, activities for young people, and no shortage of yummy food. Kung Fu Panda is greeting one and all, too!

(I won a beach ball spinning a prize wheel! Can you beat that?)

You can view the program schedule for this weekend by clicking here. The Chinese New Year Faire San Diego continues tomorrow–Sunday, February 25, 2024.

Enjoy these photographs from Saturday morning!

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Reenactment of Boston Tea Party in Chula Vista!

A reenactment of the Boston Tea Party was performed today in Chula Vista Harbor aboard tall ship Bill of Rights!

The reenactment was part of a larger San Diego event celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. I blogged about it and posted photographs here.

During the Boston Tea Party reenactment, a crowd watched from across the marina as Sea Scouts in historical attire rowed out to the schooner Bill of Rights, boarded her, and proceeded to toss crates of tea from her stern!

I photographed the action from the deck of Bill of Rights and the adjacent dock!

Yes, those weren’t really crates of tea, and the performance was a bit improvised and very loosely based on the actual historical event, but the spirit of the reenactment was appreciated by all who watched.

As tea was flung over the ship’s side, a cheer rose from the onlooking crowd at Bayfront Park on the other side of the marina!

Because the crowd continued to stand and watch, the floating crates were gathered up, reloaded onto Bill of Rights, and tossed into the water again!

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Celebrating the 250th anniversary of Boston Tea Party!

San Diego celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party today. The special event was held in the South Bay, at Chula Vista Bayfront Park.

The event’s main attraction was a reenactment of the historic Boston Tea Party, which was staged across the Chula Vista Marina aboard tall ship Bill of Rights. (I’ll share photos of the reenactment in my next blog post!)

Today’s colorful event attracted a good crowd. Period attire could be seen everywhere, and Bayfront Park’s grass was dotted with displays created by organizations that work to educate the public about our nation’s founding and history.

Many local members of the Daughters of the American Revolution and Sons of the American Revolution were present. Youth performed one act plays concerning the Boston Tea Party on two event stages. Quilts and history books and artifacts from around the time of the American Revolution could be enjoyed by those walking about.

On December 16, 1773, a shipment of tea was destroyed in Boston Harbor by colonists opposed to the Tea Act and taxation by the British without representation. This San Diego event is the first of more to come in the next few years, concerning the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding in 1776.

Enjoy some photographs taken on a sunny San Diego day!

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!

Ballet Folklorico group offers Gift of Dance.

I hope this series of photographs conveys the pure joy transmitted by a group of dancers at today’s Fall Back Festival in San Diego.

The group is called Ballet Folklorico – GIFT of DANCE. Their gift imparted to the audience was a love of life.

I’ve seen these same beaming smiles at other San Diego events. GIFT of DANCE teaches young people Mexican folklorico dancing. Check out their Facebook page here.

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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 (formerly known as Twitter)!