A great exhibition opened earlier this month at the Gaslamp Museum in the historic Davis-Horton House. San Diego’s First People is the name of the exhibition. It’s presented by the Sycuan Cultural Resource Center and Museum.
Artifacts and a series of displays detail the history, life and culture of the Kumeyaay people, who inhabited the San Diego and surrounding region thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans.
Visitors also learn how the resilient Kumeyaay people thrive today, while maintaining their cultural identity through oral traditions, songs and ceremonies.
This special exhibition continues through May 30, 2026. Click here for more information!
It looks like I’ll be missing Cinco de Mayo events this year. Too busy with work. So I figured: why not revisit past Cinco de Mayo festivals around San Diego?
Here we go!
Click the upcoming links to enjoy several past blog posts!
Click the following links for many more photographs…
The House of Czech and Slovak Republics, a long-time member of Balboa Park’s International Cottages, hosted their annual cultural lawn program today!
I happened by while walking around.
Shortly after 2 o’clock, everyone on the lawn enjoyed an excellent performance by the acclaimed Czech group Mladá muzika Šardice. I see from the event flyer that after the youth brass orchestra was finished, more music and dance would follow!
Sausages with a roll and pickle were being prepared inside one large tent. Almost forgot the pastries! A nearby fundraising table offered crafts for sale, including traditional corn husk dolls (slaměné panenky or panenky z kukuřičného šustí).
The Czech and Slovak Republics cottage was open too, with numerous beautiful displays to be seen, including costumes, dolls, ceramics and art.
The cottage is almost fully recovered from its unfortunate collision with a falling eucalyptus tree. Looks great!
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Organizations and businesses who support the environment were lined up behind the center, while vendor canopies and diverse cultural entertainment took place on the open grass nearby. Inside the WorldBeat Cultural Center there was more life to experience, including the rhythms of San Diego Taiko that I enjoyed. Visitors could also walk through the center’s lush Ethnobotany Sanctuary Garden. (I’ll be blogging about the garden later.)
There was plenty to see and do!
Behind the WorldBeat Cultural Center’s building, several canopies were set up for Earth Day. This is where visitors could enjoy most of the environmental activities and education.The San Diego Bird Alliance was showing how to mix clay and seeds to make seed balls that melt in the rain.Local native seed libraries can be found all around San Diego County. The San Diego Beekeeping Society was present with a contained hive for the purposes of demonstration. They are working to save bees.People visiting the Global Earth Day Festival could pot a plant!There were opportunities for swapping seeds, purchasing plants and composting!Books celebrating diversity could be found here. Sitting at the table is author JohnnieRenee Nelson!Books promote positive values of African American families.Lots of smiles at the KNSJ community radio station tent!Inside the WorldBeat Cultural Center people listen to a performance by San Diego Taiko.Some of the vendors on the grass near Park Boulevard.Many people come together in beautiful San Diego. WorldBeat Cultural Center hosts their 34th Annual Global Earth Day Festival!
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San Diego Taiko performed today at the WorldBeat Cultural Center’s 34th Annual Global Earth Day Festival. I happened to arrive when they were drumming. Perfect timing!
I happen to love Japanese taiko drumming. If the powerful, deep beats, and the stirring complex rhythms don’t accelerate your heartbeat, I’m not sure what will! Taiko gives me a feeling of uplift and joy. The smiling performers were obviously loving it, too!
Many in the audience stood up and joined a dance!
The WorldBeat Cultural Center vibrated with percussive energy!
I see the group has taiko workshops and welcome people who’d like to learn the art.
On their website, there’s also a section about the Folk Club of San Diego. Members study traditional Japanese folk songs that feature song, dance, taiko, and other traditional Japanese instruments.
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This weekend you have one last chance to experience a very special exhibition of art in Balboa Park. Members of the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild are exhibiting work that celebrates the history and culture of Logan Heights and other neighborhoods along Imperial Avenue east of downtown San Diego.
One Day in the Life on Imperial is the title of the exhibition, now on display in Gallery 21 of Balboa Park’s Village Arts Center (still known widely as Spanish Village).
Last month, at the TULAROSA gallery, I visited the first version of this exhibition. It has greatly expanded and moved since then, and many more diverse artworks are now collected together for visitors to enjoy!
The art you’ll encounter shows what life is like along historic Imperial Avenue. Families and shopkeepers, happiness and struggles–every aspect of a community is the subject matter of local artists who walked the street, absorbing all they experienced. Many of the resulting pieces are energetic and colorful.
One Day in the Live on Imperial continues through Monday, April 20th, 2026. If you’re heading to Balboa Park this weekend, you ought to swing by!
A few examples…
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A tall metal sculpture stands behind the WorldBeat Cultural Center in Balboa Park. It’s called the Sound Tree.
When I learned about the existence of this sculpture several days ago, I resolved to see it myself. I walked to Balboa Park yesterday and was able to take these photos. A fence and closed gate behind the WorldBeat Cultural Center kept me at a distance.
The WorldBeat Cultural Center is usually open on weekends, so that would be the time to grab the sculpture’s hammer and ring those long tubes, which dangle in the air like sonic fruit!
Sound Tree was created by artist and neurobiologist Victor Hugo Minces. He works as a research scientist at UC San Diego. According to the sculpture’s webpage, the dangling metal pipes produce low soothing vibrations that you can hear and feel. The pipes are tuned to interact acoustically, creating harmonies and rich sonic interference patterns.
The WorldBeat Cultural Center is a treasure trove of multi-cultural art, on display both inside and outside. Go check it out!
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Several human mummies from Mexico have arrived in San Diego’s Balboa Park!
Okay–they’re replica mummies to be exact. Visitors to the House of Mexico cottage can now view them as well as other artifacts from Guanajuato, a state in central Mexico.
The House of Mexico opened this exhibit a day or two ago. Every three months they celebrate one of Mexico’s many states with a new exhibition.
Not only is Guanajuato famous for its mummies, but the mountainous region is known for mining, its unique culture, and colorful architecture that includes many tunnels. Displays in the cottage include photographs, historical information and crafts from this Mexican tourist destination.
Today I enjoyed a free sample of ice cream unique to Guanajuato! I received a beautiful bilingual magazine titled Roads of Guanajuato, too!
Between the mummies and the ice cream, and all the colorful sights inside the House of Mexico cottage, your family will be sure to enjoy a visit!
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Tony Bingham is presently the artist in residence at the California Center for the Arts Museum in Escondido. Visitors to the museum have the opportunity to meet Tony and experience his work when he is present. I was privileged to meet him a couple days ago. He loves to interact with curious people!
Tony told me about his fascination with A. E. “Fred” Coleman, a former slave who discovered gold in Julian back in 1869, launching a gold rush. The gold mining camp Coleman City quickly sprang up by what today is named Coleman Creek, a tributary of the San Diego River. Among other accomplishments, A. E. Coleman created a toll road into Julian.
Short-lived Coleman City is now a vanished ghost town, but the legacy of A. E. Coleman remains an important part of African American history in the San Diego region. Tony Bingham’s art honors that history.
Tony, with his art, also honors two African American trailblazers: Albert Robinson and Margaret Tull Robinson. In 1887 they started the Robinson Restaurant and Bakery in Julian. Today the establishment is called the Julian Gold Rush Hotel.
Tony Bingham loves to create images using pinhole photography.
He went up to the property through which Coleman Creek runs and took a series of pinhole photographs, often experimenting with different exposures. Here are some of the results…
The words you see above are the names of different mines that were established around Julian during the gold rush.
Tony has also created clay plates that recall the historic Robinson Hotel & Restaurant. The earthy plates among them were formed using the actual grassy soil along Coleman Creek.
Tony has conjectured what food items the restaurant might have had on its menu, and if any vegetables were grown on location.
He has produced plant music that reflects different vegetables, resulting from bioelectrical activity within a living plant. It was very cool listening to a plant “symphony” from his laptop! The potatoes were quite lively!
Tony Bingham is a multi-disciplinary artist and educator from Birmingham, Alabama. His very unique work invites contemplation. It honors the life and legacy of African Americans.
Perhaps his most notable work is the Praise House, an open-air sculpture at a former plantation in Harpersville, Alabama.
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The House of Scotland hosted their annual Tartan Day today. They were celebrating their 77th year in Balboa Park!
A good crowd came out to the International Cottages to enjoy cultural entertainment, Scottish food (meat pies!) and a gathering of various clans.
The House of Scotland Pipe Band and the Helix Highlander Pipes & Drums performed rousing music. Traditional dancers took the stage. The Ashworth Academy of Highland Dance and the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society were represented.
The festival atmosphere was also educational. It seemed every sort of organization that promotes Scottish culture in San Diego appeared on the lawn.
What is meant by Tartan Day, you may ask?
A tartan is the patterned cloth, traditionally made of wool, featuring crisscrossed horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colors, originating from Scotland. Different clans and regions have their own unique tartan. San Diego has a special tartan pattern, too!
One more thing. The epic Scottish Highland Games and Gathering of the Clans is returning after an absence of a couple years. Instead of in Vista, the games will now be held this June 20 and 21, 2026, at the SDSU Mission Valley River Park! Check out the official website here.
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Cool San Diego Sights! 