This evening a wonderful Christmas concert was enjoyed in Balboa Park. The San Diego Ballet, San Diego Opera, and Civic Organist Raúl Prieto Ramírez performed holiday favorites for a large crowd at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion!
Ballerinas filed onto the stage to dance to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, then soaring voices filled the chilly night air with warm selections from Handel’s Messiah, and many favorite Christmas carols.
The concert concluded with a rousing Hallelujah Chorus.
I’m delighted to see how this annual free Christmas concert has grown in popularity to become a true San Diego holiday tradition.
On one special December evening some our city’s finest cultural institutions unite, bringing joy to young and old alike.
I sat in the pavilion and listened, and managed a few okay photos from afar.
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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, wonderful holiday celebration is going on right now at Kimball Park in National City!
I walked through the community event just as it was getting underway this afternoon. I saw lots of families enjoying a Ferris Wheel, sledding on a snowy hill, dancing performances, arts and crafts, and even Santa himself!
If you read this blog in time, you might want to head on down to this free event!
A Kimball Holiday will go until 9 pm this evening, with the Christmas tree lighting at 6 pm!
A good crowd enjoys A Kimball Holiday as the festive event gets underway.I walked by in the late morning and saw workers getting the Christmas tree ready. That’s how I learned about this event! After walking around San Diego’s South Bay for several hours, I returned in the afternoon…Kids were enjoying the big Ferris Wheel.How often do you see snow in sunny National City? Looks like fun!Uh, oh. The Grinch showed up! That elf is trying to cheer the old grouch.Lots of vendors had seasonal crafts and gifts for sale.Santa waved! Hi Santa!Malashock Dance was performing on the event stage in the early afternoon.I love National City!
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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 very cool San Diego holiday event is coming up this Saturday in North Park!
A Holiday Bazaar will be held December 4, 2021 from 10 am to 1 pm at the urban farm at 3745 30th Street. Look for the outdoor space just north of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. According to the event website, you’ll be able to shop from “local refugee and immigrant owned business, explore global street food, and listen to live music.”
I came upon this urban farm four years ago and described my experience here. As you can see in the above photo, I met friendly refugee students whose new home was San Diego. They were gaining confidence and learning job skills!
The 3rd Annual Holiday Bazaar is put on by MAKE Projects and International Rescue Committee’s Small Business Development Center.
Why not swing by and find some unique Christmas gifts? Vendors will be selling clothing, art, crafts, jewelry and much more!
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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!
Many colorful Christmas photos from around San Diego appeared on Cool San Diego Sights five years ago!
It’s time to share some favorite blog memories from December 2016!
Going back in time, I see that I photographed festive holiday events in La Jolla, Balboa Park and downtown. (Unfortunately, the SMARTS Farm in East Village has since closed.)
And that month my camera captured more than Christmas images. Click the upcoming links and you’ll also view a little San Diego history and some truly fantastic art!
This blog now features thousands of photos around San Diego! Are you curious? There’s lots of cool stuff to check out!
Here’s the Cool San Diego Sights main page, where you can read the most current blog posts. If you’re using a phone or small mobile device, click those three parallel lines up at the top–that opens up my website’s sidebar, where you’ll see the most popular posts, a search box, and more!
To enjoy future posts, you can also “like” Cool San Diego Sights on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.
It’s Sunday, the last day of San Diego Comic-Con Special Edition.
Even though this year’s scaled back Comic-Con is winding down, I figured I’d walk down toward the San Diego Convention Center to enjoy a little more outside cosplay and fun. I live within easy walking distance, so why not?
My camera was rewarded!
Yes, I got some free swag and a free drink, not to mention sunshine and exercise. It was good to see people out and about, enjoying life and their fandoms, feeling excited and alive.
I learned the above cosplay is derived from the new Christmas-themed show Hawkeye, which has Clint Barton taking his family to see Rogers: The Musical!
It’s Woody!Very fancy!Hey Syfy dude, thanks for the nice bag!Here comes Batgirl!Nice pose!Looks sorta Scottish to me.More cosplay outside Comic-Con Special Edition on Sunday.Some park rangers have arrived at the La Brea sinkhole. Perhaps they can help monitor the prehistoric wildlife.That SueroX drink was pretty good, especially on a warm day. Thanks!Raven cosplay near the Peacemaker Proving Ground. Raven’s powerful magic would take down Peacemaker easily.Very cool Venom cosplay using a toothy hand puppet! Awesome!
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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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
San Diego’s newest museum opened yesterday in Balboa Park. Today I walked through the door and enjoyed my very first visit to the amazing Comic-Con Museum!
The Comic-Con Museum is going to be another major attraction in San Diego. Even during this “soft opening” there are remarkable exhibits that include original, one-of-kind artifacts–artwork, costumes, props, rare documents and more–from the history of popular culture.
I walked about the three-level museum and and tried to take it all in. A variety of extraordinary exhibits are featured during this Grand Opening weekend, which coincides with Comic-Con Special Edition at the downtown San Diego Convention Center.
Please enjoy my photos and read the captions to learn a little more about the museum and its current exhibits.
And make sure to check out the Comic-Con Museum website here! Become a member like me and gain all sorts of exclusive benefits!
Almost 10 am when the doors open! The Comic-Con Museum occupies the historic Federal Building in Balboa Park, which years ago was home to the Hall of Champions. The building was created for the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition.This is just the beginning! The Comic-Con Museum will continue to develop their space in the coming few years. The new museum promises to become ever more incredible.Many generous donors and benefactors have helped to make the Comic-Con Museum a reality, including the David C. Copley Foundation and the Conrad Prebys Foundation.The first exhibit I saw on the ground floor is called Art of the Comic-Con Masquerade. It celebrates the Comic-Con tradition of cosplay. These elaborate superhero costumes were made by fans!My favorite exhibit is titled Gene Roddenberry: Sci-Fi Visionary. Original costumes, art and props are displayed from Star Trek. The life and creative genius of Roddenberry is remembered with his personal letters and more. This exhibit is so fantastic I’ll be blogging about it separately coming up!Another substantial exhibit, Eight Decades of Archie, celebrates the cultural heritage of Archie Comics. I had no idea that Sabrina the Teenage Witch, before television, was a comic book series published by Archie ComicsCardboard Superheroes were created by two local youth. Their cool creations debuted in the nascent Comic-Con Museum a couple years ago during Balboa Park’s December Nights.Looking up at the second floor galleries. When the Federal Building was home of the Hall of Champions, the Breitbard Hall of Fame plaques decorated those upper walls.Admiring original works of famed artist Charles Samuel Addams, who is probably best known for creating the Addams Family characters.Looking down from the second level toward the museum entrance.An inspirational exhibit is titled Out of the Darkness: Comic Art in the Times of COVID. Youth art created during the COVID-19 lockdown is featured. It is presented by A Reason To Survive (ARTS), an organization in National City that works to uplift young people.Some really great art from San Diego’s South Bay community.In one of the Comic-Con Museum’s classrooms is a creative work area. During the opening weekend, an exhibit here demonstrates the Cosplay Creator’s Lab.If you’d like to support San Diego dreamers, fans and artists, here’s one way!Sewing machine and dress.Check out this incredible, wearable Grommash Hellscream costume! It was created by Mike Biasi.In the lower level of the museum, near the auditorium, you’ll find another Art of the Comic-Con Masquerade display. These costumes were all part of past Comic-Con Masquerades.And check this out! In one corner of the Comic-Con Museum, where the old Hall of Champions café used to be, there’s the PAC-MAN Arcade, complete with playable games and historical exhibits!Designs, drawings and documents from back when Pac-Man was created, in 1980. A cultural icon (and Comic-Con Museum Character Hall of Fame inductee) was born!Is this cool, or what?
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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!
Comic-Con Special Edition is happening this weekend in San Diego, and I walked around San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter and convention center today with my camera.
By the early afternoon I was surprised to see a good crowd forming, and there was more cosplay than I expected. The La Brea and Peacemaker offsites were pretty busy, too!
The Freak Brothers bus behind the convention center near the Hilton Bayfront seemed a bit lonely, but that made it easier to snag three cool posters and some collectible mints!
Enjoy these photos of cosplay and fun during Comic-Con Special Edition on a sunny Saturday!
Rick and Morty cosplay on Fifth Avenue in the early morning.When I returned to the Gaslamp around midday, people were lined up at NBC’s La Brea offsite activation.Flash stopped running for a moment to smile for a photo!Not nearly as busy as a normal Comic-Con, but still a fair amount of activity.Pikachu and friends!A good crowd at the Peacemaker Proving Ground.Spaceballs cosplay!Inside the Peacekeeper Proving Ground, participants had to help rescue a hostage.Another tactical group enters the dangerous obstacle course.Working my way back, going to head toward the Hilton Bayfront.The X-Men are poised for action! Is Magneto nearby? Great cosplay!It’s “Bat” Girl! Very cool!Spider-Man cosplay. I saw many kids out having fun.Uh, oh! It’s Cheetah! Is Wonder Woman going to save me?Freaking out at The Freak Brothers bus!A future Superman!A little Marvel, a little DC. Lots of fun!Even more creative cosplay in the Gaslamp!Deadly Crimson is a comic created by Melissa LeEllen. Learn more at DeadlyCrimson.com!More cosplay on Fifth Avenue. But now I’m heading home.Hogwarts cosplay!
Today I also checked out the brand new Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park. It’s amazing. Stay tuned for that!
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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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Today, Friday, is the first day of Comic-Con Special Edition in San Diego!
Early this morning I walked through downtown San Diego to see what’s going on. I took photos of the three Comic-Con offsites near the convention center and anything else interesting that caught my eye!
Enjoy!
A cool smile at NBC’s La Brea offsite! It’s very early–just after sunrise. No fans yet!I spotted more cool chalk art in front of Blarney Stone Pub as I walked down Fifth Avenue through the Gaslamp Quarter.Looks like a work in progress.There’s a Peacemaker van parked near the HBO Max activation that promotes their show!It looks like fans will walk through Peacemaker’s trailer before reaching the obstacle course, which is behind the fence. It opens today at noon.Take your selfie here at the Peacemaker Proving Ground!Guy with Marvel t-shirt poses on steps of Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge.The Freak Brothers bus is parked on the grass in front of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel.The show on Tubi features stoners with the munchies–and their cat.Some exhibitors are arriving! Who’s that guy taking photos?Must be an artist!
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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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
I spotted some cool chalk art this morning as I walked through San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter. Star Wars characters and a Ghostbusters graphic had been created in front of the Blarney Stone Pub on Fifth Avenue.
It appears the chalk art promotes a Star Wars/Mandalorian cosplay contest at 9 pm on Friday, during Comic-Con Special Edition. I’m not sure if it will be held here or elsewhere.
I took these photos of the artwork…
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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!
Comic-Con Special Edition, during this Thanksgiving weekend, will be featuring a few cool offsite activations in and around San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter. They are free and open to the public.
I walked along Martin Luther King, Jr. Promenade this morning and saw a big new Peacemaker display and workers readying an offsite that promotes Tubi’s new show The Freak Brothers. (UPDATE—possibly The Freak Brothers! It might actually be the Peacemaker Proving Ground. We’ll have to see Friday!)
NBC will also be promoting La Brea in Gaslamp Square next to the Tin Fish, across from the San Diego Convention Center. I took updated photos of that offsite yesterday, which you can see here.
A security guard told me a homeless person tried to rip off the plastic wrapping, breaking the Peacemaker sign below.
Here’s a photo of the big Peacemaker building wrap on the Marriott Marquis. Peacemaker is a show about the DC Comics character, who appeared in the latest Suicide Squad movie. The new series will be on HBO Max.
Here come more pics from this Thanksgiving morning. It looks like (maybe) The Freak Brothers will be living in a trailer. The animated Tubi show satirizes both the drug counter-culture and the establishment. It’s based on an underground comic about stoner characters and their crazy exploits.
The Garden of Peace sign makes me wonder if this isn’t actually the Peacemaker Proving Ground, referenced here. We’ll find out!
UPDATE!
Turns out I was wrong! What I thought might be The Freak Brothers activation is actually the Peacemaker Proving Ground. That would explain the obstacle course I photographed earlier.
A bus promoting The Freak Brothers will be parked by the Hilton San Diego Bayfront!
I’ll have to check that out this weekend!
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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!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
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