Tag: culture

Preparing for San Diego’s amazing International Organ Festival!

The 37th San Diego International Summer Organ Festival 2025 is just two days away!

Beginning next Monday, and continuing into September, some of the world’s finest organists will be performing in Balboa Park at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion!

Today, as I walked through Balboa Park, I caught the first outstanding organist, Joshua Stafford, as he rehearsed at the Spreckels Organ. Joshua is the Jacobsen Chair for the Organist of Chautauqua Institution, in New York. You might recall that our own beloved Jared Jacobsen served as San Diego Civic Organist from 1978 to 1984.

Joshua will be playing Bohemian Rhapsody, Carmen Fantasy and other all-time favorites! Yes, on the world’s largest outdoor instrument!

If you’ve never been to one of the free San Diego International Summer Organ Festival concerts, you’re missing out on something special. Not only is the music always first rate, but the late evening atmosphere, particularly when the organ pavilion’s many lights come on, is magical. How can it not be? It’s Balboa Park!

Click here to see the full lineup of performers during the 2025 summer festival. Bring your dinner or a snack if you’d like, then settle on one of the pavilion’s benches (or your lawn chair), and live it up!

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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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A surprising art gallery in Oceanside!

There’s an art gallery in Oceanside that you might not know. I stumbled upon it by sheer coincidence the other day.

This surprising art gallery is located inside the historic Sunshine Brooks Theater building, the home of the Oceanside Theatre Company. Very fine works by regional artists hang in the lobby and down a hallway.

The current exhibition of the Brooks Theater Gallery is Black Perspectives 2. The exhibition’s inspiration was the arrival of Juneteenth. This theatre webpage explains that the gallery features previous exhibitors and new POC artists sharing their vision of Black history, culture, family and community.

Incidentally, these fine art pieces are for sale. You can support the artists!

The exhibitions in the gallery change fairly often. Next time you pass by the Sunshine Brooks Theater in downtown Oceanside, why not step through the door as I did and take a peek. You might be surprised!

A few more examples in the gallery…

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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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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.

Feel free to share!

Summer Solstice Exhibit showcases artists at Liberty Station.

Some fine art can be enjoyed by those visiting Liberty Station in Point Loma. Eight artists who work out of studios at Liberty Station are exhibiting canvases that celebrate San Diego and our local fishing industry.

Most of the displayed pieces can be purchased. They’re all quite good, too.

The Summer Solstice Exhibit can be found in the lobby of the Dick Laub NTC Command Center building and runs May to July 2025.

While you’re at Liberty Station, just roam around. There’s so much to see and do!

(While wandering about today, I discovered a little-seen mosaic from Liberty Station’s history as Naval Training Center San Diego. I’ll blog about that next!)

A few more pieces in the Summer Solstice Exhibit…

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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!

Old Globe’s 90th Anniversary sculpture in Balboa Park!

A cool sculpture has appeared in Balboa Park at the center of The Old Globe theatre complex. It celebrates The Old Globe’s 90th Anniversary!

San Diego’s “flagship arts institution” has created countless great memories over nearly a century.

Cherished memories can be shared by anyone over a live feed in The Old Globe’s plaza. Go to this website, type in your Old Globe memory, and share it with other theatre lovers!

The sculpture contains images of theatrical productions over the years. So much history has been made at The Old Globe. A series of banners leading down to El Prado celebrates that history.

As one banner states: From Stephen Sondheim to August Wilson to Arthur Miller, The Old Globe has showcased the visions of the world’s greatest theatre-makers. Premiering new work, honoring the classics, and celebrating the craft of the stage, the Globe defines American theatre at the hightest level.

Another banner recalls: More than 30 Globe-launched productions went on to Broadway success, earning national acclaim...

What are some of your Old Globe memories?

I remember watching a play at the Cassius Carter Centre Stage (now called the The Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre) as a young person. I was struck by how the actors, encircled by the audience, had somehow become integral to my world and my life–at least for a time. It seemed as if these strangers had suddenly become family, bringing out the true potency of “familiar” things.

On that day I discovered the magical power of theatre. Does that make sense?

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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!

Joyful energy at Juneteenth party in San Diego!

The positive energy was off the charts this afternoon at the Juneteenth Block Party in North Park!

From all around San Diego a big crowd converged on the street in front of North Park restaurant Louisiana Purchase, eager to join in the Juneteenth celebration: a vibrant tribute to Black excellence, music, and food!

Everyone was mingling, smiling, enjoying barbeque, unique vendors, community organizations, live mural painting, fashion, and even a tiny basketball court!

When the dancing began at two o’clock, everyone made their way to the stage to cheer on joyful, high energy performances!

I hope my photographs capture some of the vibes…

It’s time to introduce the youthful dancers!

First up, representing the Lincoln Emeralds…

Next up, Somethin’ Creative Dance Team! (They teach kids who simply love to dance, and perform at special events and compete regionally!)

Some older dance team members come onto the stage…

Next up, more high energy positivity from the Junkyard Dance Crew!

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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!

Crafty armadillos roll into San Diego!

Dozens of crafty armadillos have rolled into San Diego. I observed them today in Balboa Park, inside the Mingei International Museum!

The roll of armadillos (that’s what a group of armadillos is called) is hanging out inside several glass display cases on the ground floor of the museum. Tuck and Roll: The Art of Armadillos is the name of the free exhibition.

The exhibition includes folk art armadillos crafted from wood, clay, glass, metal, stone, fiber and various natural materials such at shells, gourds and coconuts. There are bowl armadillos, toy armadillos, ashtray armadillos, pipe armadillos, jar armadillos, coin bank armadillos, toothpick holder armadillos…

These crafty armadillos were made primarily in Central and South America, and Mexico, where the roly-poly animals are found in the wild. Many of the objects were created by indigenous peoples following centuries-old traditions.

I took a few photos, but if you plan to visit Balboa Park, step through the Mingei International Museum’s door and encounter these fun armadillos yourself!

Tuck and Roll: The Art of Armadillos will be displayed into January 2026, so you have plenty of time.

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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!

A visit to the Heritage of the Americas Museum.

There’s a surprising museum jam-packed with wonders that everyone in San Diego should visit. I’m speaking of the Heritage of the Americas Museum in Rancho San Diego.

The Heritage of the Americas Museum is located near the West entrance of Cuyamaca College, immediately adjacent to the Water Conservation Garden. The museum building appears modest at first glance, but when you step through the front door your eyes might pop out of your head!

How do I begin to describe this amazing place?

The museum has four wings. They are dedicated to Archaeology, Anthropology, Natural History and Fine Art. If you wanted to examine every artifact, specimen and work of art, you could easily spend an hour exploring the museum.

Display cases contain objects from the Americas that fall into dozens of categories, whether it might be Peruvian textiles, or Haida and Tlingit artifacts, or paleo points dated 12000 B.C. to 6000 B.C., or millions-year-old fossils, or beautiful sea shells and coral…

When I visited, school children on a field trip were excitedly peering into the displays, seeing new worlds beyond their own life experience.

I’ll share a few photos so you get an idea of the fascinating worlds you’ll encounter, too.

Cool thing: the Heritage of the Americas Museum is free to the public every second Friday of the month!

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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!

Harvesting the Ocean at Maritime Museum.

An exhibit about the history of fishing in San Diego opens today at the Maritime Museum of San Diego.

Harvesting the Ocean expands upon pre-existing displays in the museum. The new exhibit follows the rise and fall of our city’s commercial fishing industry, and celebrates contributions by native people, immigrants and resilient fishing families to that rich history.

In addition to informative signs containing historical photographs, the exhibit includes artifacts used by fishermen who’ve harvested the ocean over the years.

I enjoyed an early look at the exhibit. If you’re interested in this very important aspect of San Diego history, you need to experience it, too.

The opening of this exhibit corresponds with the launch of a new seafood cookbook created by over a hundred contributors from the San Diego community. San Diego Seafood: Then & Now is available at the Maritime Museum’s gift shop. It contains over 75 recipes and includes essays, stories and photographs that bring our city’s extensive and diverse fishing history to life.

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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!

Filipino food and culture served in Balboa Park!

Hungry during your weekend visit to Balboa Park? Do you love Filipino food, such as pancit and lumpia?

Head over to the San Diego History Center, where they’re serving up authentic Filipino food and culture!

Taste San Diego: Filipino Culinary Journeys is the name of the museum’s free exhibition, where displays tell the story of Filipino-American identity through the rich flavors of cuisine. It’s also where, on Saturdays and Sundays, tasty food is available for purchase at the Bataan Café!

What’s on the menu? Pancit, Shanghai Lumpia, and for dessert, Ube Crinkle Cookies and Dubai Ensaymada. Beverages include Ube Cold Brew, Calamansi Lemonade, Ginger Beer, and alcoholic Ube Wan and Jeepney.

When I swung by for lunch on Saturday, I was met by smiles and a neighborly vibe.

A family was enjoying their meal at a very special table. The table’s surface is actually a large video screen. Its looping video shows a Filipino boodle fight: a communal Filipino meal where food is placed directly on the table and eaten with bare hands. (My own table had me eating delicious lumpia by hand, but the pancit noodles made their way into my mouth by fork.)

I recommend you visit Taste San Diego: Filipino Culinary Journeys at the San Diego History Center. In addition to the great food served on weekends, there are walls full of heartwarming displays. They tell stories of Filipino family life and culture in San Diego.

Service with a smile!

I took the next photograph on a weekday, when the café is closed. My photo shows the scale of this exhibition at the San Diego History Center.

On weekends you’ll find people at the tables enjoying Filipino food!

The museum exhibit includes many displays.

This historical photograph shows how social fiestas help Filipino immigrants and Filipino-Americans stay connected to their roots and share rich traditions…

One display shows ingredients that are often used in the making of Filipino food…

Okay! It’s now the weekend and I’m hungry!

Time to eat!

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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!