Tag: dancing

Fun culture at House of Ireland lawn program!

The House of Ireland in Balboa Park hosted their lawn program today, two days before St. Patrick’s Day.

As usual, there was a lot of green, Irish food, Irish dance and Irish fun!

A big crowd on the lawn enjoyed the sunshine anticipating exciting cultural entertainment. Irish stew was being served at the House of Ireland cottage. Tasty baked goods, too!

The cultural program began in earnest at two o’clock. A festive procession onto the lawn and up to the stage was led by the bagpipers and drummers of The Cameron Highlanders. Several dancing groups in colorful traditional costume would follow them.

Soon thereafter, the Irish dancing would begin!

Dancers young and old, including members of several academies of Irish dance, would kick it up on the stage. Reels, jigs and hornpipes had the performers moving energetically to the rhythm of live music.

Enjoy a few photos…

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Photos of St. Patrick’s Day Parade 2026!

A big San Diego event today! It’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade & Festival 2026!

The parade this morning was as epic as ever, lasting well over an hour as it headed through Bankers Hill. The festival is taking place on the west side of Balboa Park, near Laurel Street.

Everyone was wearing green–parade participants and those lining the sidewalks cheering them on.

Irish organizations were front and center, with Irish clubs and societies and dance school students strutting their stuff. Law enforcement and fire fighters were a huge presence, too. There were Shriner clowns, high school marching bands, Irish setters, Irish wolfhounds, roller skaters doing their routine, cars decorated with shamrocks, dignitaries, beauty queens, ballet folklorico dancers, fierce Vikings in their longship, happy leprechauns . . . you name it!

I took many photos before the parade and during it. These are some of my better shots…

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Photos at Balboa Park Chinese New Year!

It’s 2026, the Year of the Horse! Chinese New Year was celebrated all this weekend in Balboa Park!

With plenty of tradition, food and cultural entertainment, the House of China hosted their big Balboa Park Chinese New Year Fair at the International Cottages!

I arrived late this afternoon, shortly after the festival got underway. The Southern Sea Dragon and Lion Dance Association were entertaining a large crowd, bringing everyone good luck.

After the National Anthem was sung by young Norah Lu, students from the San Diego Wushu Center performed up on the stage. Their Chinese martial arts performances were incredible. Some of the students looked like Jet Li, effortlessly jumping and twisting their bodies in mid-air, wowing the audience. Very exciting!

I took some photos. My current, too-old PowerShot camera seems to be on its last legs, but I managed to capture some good images that convey the colorful atmosphere…

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Festive sights at the AgeWell Holiday Dance!

My friends in Balboa Park’s Senior Lounge told me the AgeWell Services Holiday Dance was taking place this afternoon, so I had to poke my nose into the Balboa Park Club building to see what might be going on. What did I find? All sorts of fun holiday sights!

Folks were enjoying a break between dances when I arrived, so I just wandered about the big ballroom.

I spied Santa, Frosty, the Grinch, silly elf Minions, very beautiful Christmas trees, and a sparkling variety of colorful holiday decorations! Happy people, too!

Look what I found!

A smiling, dancing Christmas tree!

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San Diego Civic Youth Ballet performs The Nutcracker!

The San Diego Civic Youth Ballet will be performing The Nutcracker on December 10 to 21, 2025. The public was able to experience a free preview of the show this afternoon at the Sunday organ concert in Balboa Park!

The audience was amazed at the poise and grace exhibited by the young ballet dancers as they glided across the hard concrete stage. The dancers earned a huge ovation! If the selected dances in this preview are any indication, The Nutcracker will be sensational!

It was great hearing San Diego Civic Organist Raúl Prieto Ramírez providing much of the accompanying music. A world-class musician brought Tchaikovsky’s beloved holiday classic to life.

As always, the San Diego Civic Youth Ballet’s holiday performances will take place in the Casa del Prado Theater in Balboa Park. Find out more and purchase tickets by clicking here.

We also learned that 2025 is the 80th Anniversary Season of the San Diego Civic Youth Ballet!

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If you’d like to see San Diego through my lens, find the “Follow” box in the sidebar to receive new posts in your email, or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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House of Somalia celebration in Balboa Park!

Today the first ever House of Somalia lawn program was held among the International Cottages in Balboa Park. It was a big, fun cultural celebration!

The House of Somalia is a new member of the House of Pacific Relations International Cottages. They are the first nation in the group to represent Africa!

The House of Somalia’s first annual lawn program brought out a good crowd. People happily mingled while enjoying a variety of food, goods, crafts, and very lively entertainment up on the stage.

Representatives from the Somali Museum of Minnesota and their troupe of Traditional Dancers came all the way to San Diego to participate in the celebration. I was interested to learn the Somali Museum of Minnesota is North America’s only Somali-focused museum.

Beginning around 2 pm, after some short speeches, including glowing words by WorldBeat Center founder Makeda Cheatom, the dancers took the stage.

The dancers began by performing the Dhaanto, which mimics the movements of a camel. Many other folk dances would follow, all of which were very expressive. I believe the one with much spinning was the Jaandheer. You had to be there to experience the energy and sense of joy.

It was an outstanding inaugural lawn program for the House of Somalia!

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If you’d like to see San Diego through my lens, find the “Follow” box in the sidebar to receive new posts in your email, or bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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San Diego graced with the Gift of Dance!

Young dancers with the Gift of Dance, a local ballet folklórico school, performed today in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter during the annual Fall Back Festival.

These colorful photographs provide a hint of the dancers’ energy, fluid grace and poise. The dances transmitted pure joy. If you were there, you felt it.

Traditional Mexican dances included La Negra, La Raspa, La Madrugada, Tehuantepec, El Jarabe Tapatio, Los Machettes, and Las Chiapanecas.

Audience members were often clapping along with the music!

I hope you enjoy my photos…

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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!

Lion dancers bring Gaslamp Quarter good luck!

Good fortune arrived today in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter.

The San Diego Lucky Lion Dancers brought their good luck to the annual Fall Back Festival!

Shortly before noon, the dancers departed their headquarters at the San Diego Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, crossed Third and Fourth Avenue, and entered the festival with traditional costumes and musical instruments.

Those watching at the Fall Back Festival would be entertained by the performers’ exciting entrance and the following lion dance.

The Lucky Lion Dancers perform at many San Diego events, and I never tire of watching them. The energy, joyfulness and magical good vibes…anyone who watches is indeed lucky!

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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!

The room where San Diego’s first waltz was danced.

Have you read Two Years Before the Mast? You might remember how author Richard Henry Dana describes the tiny Mexican town of San Diego which he visited in 1835. He would ride into town for pleasure when not unloading, loading or drying cattle hides at La Playa in Point Loma. His famous work of literature vividly describes a fandango in Old Town at the home of Don Juan Bandini.

Bandini’s casa would eventually become Old Town’s Cosmopolitan Hotel, and the very room where the first waltz was likely danced in California can be visited in the hotel today. That’s the room in the above photograph!

Today I ventured into the Cosmopolitan Hotel and discovered two interesting signs in the historic room. The first explains how an extravagant wood floor was installed by Bandini for dancing. It was probably the first wooden floor in California.

Dana wrote in Two Years Before the Mast:

“A great deal has been said about our friend Don Juan Bandini, and when he did appear, which was toward the close of the evening, he certainly gave us the most graceful dancing that I had ever seen.

His slight and graceful figure was well calculated for dancing, and he moved about with the grace and daintiness of a young fawn. He was loudly and repeatedly applauded, the old men and women jumping out of their seats in admiration, and the young people waving their hats and handkerchiefs.”

More photos of the restored room today…

A second sign explains how in the later 1800’s, after the abandoned Bandini house had been acquired by Albert and Emily Seeley and converted into the Cosmopolitan Hotel, big social parties took place in this room once again. They were the talk of the town!

Would you like to visit the historic room yourself? Look for a friendly tintype photographer outside this door. Then step through!

While you’re at it, you can have an old-fashioned tintype photograph taken as a keepsake. Perhaps pretend you’ve traveled back in time to the mid-1800’s, when this photographic technology was developed!

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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!

House of Lebanon lawn program in Balboa Park!

Today people were dancing, listening to beautiful voices sing, eating, and having a great time in sunny Balboa Park. They were participating in the lawn program of the House of Lebanon!

The House of Lebanon of the International Cottages saw a good crowd come out for their cultural event. At 2:30 the House of Lebanon San Diego Choir performed, and thereafter members of UC San Diego’s Lebanese Club taught anyone who was interested how to dance the joyful, traditional dabke!

I was interested to read the dabke descends from Phoenician dances thousands of years old.

The happiness that comes from joining hands and moving together is evidently timeless!

Chicken Shawarma Wrap, Kafta Kabob Wrap, Chicken Shawarma Fries, Fattoush Salad, Hummus with Pita, Spinach Pies, Knefe in a bun, Lebanese Coffee…

Yum!

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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!