Those in San Diego who love The Sound of Music, rejoice! The timeless musical will be playing in Balboa Park next Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater!
I was sitting on a bench at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion reading a book this afternoon when the full cast unexpectedly assembled on the stage for a photograph!
My camera got busy, too!
This uplifting Sound of Music production involves members of the Santa Sophia Catholic Church in Spring Valley. Everyone up on the stage wore a big smile!
If you want to enjoy next weekend’s performance, check out their website by clicking here.
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This evening, Mexican Independence Day is being celebrated in Little Italy. Cultural performances, including lots of colorful folklorico dancing, can be enjoyed in front of San Diego’s Mexican Consulate. A good crowd had gathered for the event shortly after it began, as you can see in my photographs!
If you read this in time, the Mexican Independence Day celebration will continue on the 1500 block of India Street until 9 pm tonight!
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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)!
Enjoy this fun collection of photographs taken during yesterday’s big Grape Day Festival in Escondido!
The family-friendly event, which is held in downtown’s grassy Grape Day Park, celebrates Escondido history and this North County city’s reputation for grape growing. The festival originated way back in 1908 and for the first half of the 20th century it rivaled Pasadena’s Festival of Roses in popularity.
Following the COVID pandemic of a few years ago, the Grape Day Festival is now back in full swing, with a large crowd enjoying grape stomping, historical displays and lots of old-fashioned entertainment!
I wandered about taking it all in. One could listen to jazz, bluegrass and mariachi music, explore exhibits along the park’s History Center, check out old vehicles and farm machinery, observe a milking demonstration, and meet lots of cool people who are involved throughout the community! Plenty of tasty food and games for kids and pony rides, too!
If you love nostalgia and a generous slice of Americana, this festival is for you!
Anybody could stomp some grapes provided by the Bernardo Winery.Yummy food by the Wine and Beer Tasting Garden!I learned there is an Old Escondido Historic District. It is the only residential Historic District in North San Diego County. Visit their website here.Several antique vehicles on display.A very cool 1949 Ford woodie.Kids learn how to dust for fingerprints behind a Crime Scene Investigation vehicle.Smiles at the Vietnam Veterans of America booth.Kids learn about native snakes at the San Dieguito River Park booth.The Escondido Public Library features a Pioneer Room, where anyone can search a local history archive for old documents, photographs and more. Go to their website here.Brightly smiling Escondido royalty pose for a photo.The San Diego Archaeological Center was on hand for the festival. I still haven’t visited their museum in nearby San Pasqual Valley. Check out their website here.The Wa$xayam Pomki Museum of the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians had cultural displays at their booth. They are one of the Grape Day Festival sponsors. Their website is here.Lots of demonstrations could be viewed along the Escondido History Center’s Heritage Walk.A family learning about blacksmithing at the Tom Bandy Blacksmith Shop.Pre-Columbian methods for preparing corn.Antique machines used to grind corn.I placed a dried corn cob in here and turned the crank!Grape Day banners on the fence in front of the History Center’s Victorian House.Hollandia dairy, based in San Diego’s North County, brought two cows and a goat for milking demonstrations.Beautiful color at a wonderful community festival.
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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)!
Harold Lloyd, star of silent movies a century ago, returned to his home in San Diego this evening!
The famous comic actor appeared on a big screen in Balboa Park’s outdoor Spreckels Organ Pavilion. He was starring in one of his most popular silent movies, The Freshman, accompanied by renowned organist Clark Wilson playing the Spreckels Organ!
Harold Lloyd is considered one the three great comedians from Hollywood’s era of silent movies. He stands with Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.
Did you know he also lived for a time in San Diego, attending San Diego High School?
So, in a sense, Harold Lloyd returned home this evening!
And thousands in the audience laughed at his all-too-human, silly antics. A century later, he still brings smiles into the world.
This was the second-to-last performance for this year’s free 35th San Diego International Summer Organ Festival. Next Monday–Labor Day–San Diego’s Civic Organist and rock and roll musicians together conclude the festival with a blast!
If you want to watch another silent movie accompanied by organ in San Diego, your opportunity is coming up on Tuesday, September 19 at noon at downtown’s Balboa Theatre. The performance is also free! Buster Keaton stars in the silent film One Week. Click here for more info!
Public domain image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
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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 Twitter!
San Diego has a very large Filipino community. So it’s no surprise that many in the community came out today for the big, colorful 36th Annual Philippine Cultural Arts Festival!
This always popular festival, which takes place in Balboa Park, attracts an enthusiastic crowd, as you can see in my photos. (As I type this, the event is still going on for another hour or so.) There’s every sort of entertainment on the main stage, including music, singing, and a whole lot of folk dancing in costume. Those wandering about the grass can find Filipino food, cultural displays and art at every turn. Smiling authors and artists greet people, too!
The event is presented by the SAMAHAN Filipino American Performing Arts and Education Center, and I joined the audience cheering on many students performing traditional dances.
I learned Filipino Folk Dance Classes are offered for children, teens and adults. Click here for more information!
That smile in my next photo belongs to author Jocelyn Francisco, Ph.D. She wrote the Little Yellow Jeepney series of children’s books!
Perhaps you recall that the film Lumpia With A Vengeance had a very well attended panel this year at San Diego Comic-Con. That cool guy smiling on the left–Patricio Ginelsa–is the Director! The movie will be available on demand and digitally on October 3.
Here’s a young guy with truly fine art. I wonder how soon until his work is included in museum collections. His name is Sean Arce.
I enjoyed perusing a few cultural exhibits…
Another great performance!
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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 Twitter!
A big celebration of Panama and its culture was held today in San Diego. The House of Panama brought food, dance, folk costume and family fun to the International Cottages in Balboa Park!
Before the speeches and entertainment commenced, I visited the House of Panama cottage, then walked about the International Cottages lawn. Lots of people were lined up for traditional Panamanian treats like empanadas and arroz con pollo. There were also many flavors of piraguas.
At one table, author Tamika Burgess told me about her new novel, Sincerely Sicily. It’s about a young Black Latina who learns about her Panamanian heritage. Check out her book here.
Another table celebrated the relationship between San Diego and Panama City. The two are Sister Cities. A cool LEGO model demonstrated how the Panama Canal works!
What is Panama City’s connection to San Diego? San Diego is the first American port-of-call after ships pass into the Pacific Ocean and head north. Balboa Park during its 1915 Panama-California Exposition promoted this fortuitous geographical fact.
At another table a raffle was being held to support the House of Panama. If you want to offer your support, or simply are curious, visit their website here.
Then speeches . . . and dancing! Several cultural groups participated in the lively folkloric dancing. Performers came to San Diego from as far away as San Francisco and Los Angeles! Everyone watching applauded loudly. Smiles were in the dancers’ eyes.
Between dances there was a fashion show. We were shown different types of beautiful pollera dresses, and quickly could see why some of the elaborate polleras could cost several thousand dollars. So many different colors whirled on the stage!
As you can see from my photographs, the annual House of Panama lawn program in Balboa Park is an exceptionally festive and colorful event!
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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 Twitter!
The annual Lemon Festival in Chula Vista is one of the most popular street festivals in San Diego County. A huge crowd turned out today in Chula Vista’s historic downtown for lots of sweet family fun!
I walked down Third Avenue taking in the sights. Yes, there were lemons everywhere I turned: lemonade, lemon treats, lemony gifts, lemon-themed chalk art, and lots of people wearing yellow–some dancing to live music! Shame on me. I missed a lemon costume contest, a lemon cook-off, and a lemon squeezing contest!
Why is there a Lemon Festival each summer? As various displays at the South Bay Historical Society’s table explained, Chula Vista was once considered the Lemon Capital of the World!
Enjoy these photos!
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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 Twitter!
Shōgun is an upcoming FX television series that will premiere on Hulu. Through this weekend, at Comic-Con 2023, dramatic fight performances can be viewed several times a day at the FX offsite on the lawn in front of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront.
A good crowd gathered this afternoon for one of the live performances. It lasted for perhaps five minutes. But as you can see in my photographs, it was very exciting.
Everyone clapped when it concluded. Then fans lined up at either end of the stage for photo opportunities with the elaborately costumed performers.
Check my photo of the sign for the times when you can watch. There was no wait to enter this expansive Comic-Con offsite, but there were long waits for the separate activations that promote several other FX shows.
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I’m covering Comic-Con again this year. To see all my current and past blog posts concerning Comic-Con, click here and scroll down!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Cool San Diego Sights! 