Tag: events

Photos of Escondido’s Cinco de Mayo!

The North County Cinco de Mayo Festival brought exuberant life to Grape Day Park in Escondido today. The annual event, produced by USA Multicultural, was said to be bigger than ever. And I believe it!

Those arriving from around San Diego’s North County enjoyed Mariachis, different groups of colorful folklórico dancers, great singers, and other (mostly) Mexican cultural entertainment.

And tons of food, of every description, everywhere! (I succumbed to the temptation of a scrumptious carne asada quesadilla.)

Nonprofit community organizations were also on hand, and more than a few artists were showing their work. Beautify Escondido was present, too. I’ll be blogging about their efforts next.

Enjoy this collection of photographs!

The 2024 North County Cinco de Mayo Festival gets started on a late Sunday afternoon at Escondido’s Grape Day Park.

The National Anthems of both Mexico and the United States begin the Cinco de Mayo program.

Mariachi Del Mar/Rio kick off the main stage entertainment.

Mariachis perform at a second, smaller stage across the grass.

The crowd grows as the Cinco de Mayo event continues.

The House of Mexico had a smiling representative at the festival!

Colorful art from Mexico’s state of Nayarit.

Ms. USA Multicultural poses for a photo.

Lots of cool art could be enjoyed courtesy of Beautify Escondido.

Irma Gogova (@irmagogovatattoo_art) smiles near a cosmic work of art she created!

Lots of diverse food to eat at the event.

Loteria aprons! Awesome!

Young people perform up on the festive stage.

Young vaqueros dance on the main stage.

…

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)!

Chula Vista celebrates San Diego FC!

It’s obvious that many in Chula Vista are looking forward to the debut season of San Diego FC next year. Huge crowds have come out today for the San Diego FC Chrome Ball Tour stop in downtown Chula Vista!

As the free street festival opened, soccer games were already underway up and down Third Avenue. Kids, adults, even the Chula Vista Fire Department and Police Department would participate in hard fought competition!

I walked about shortly after noon, as people were arriving from every direction for the event. I took some photographs while checking out games, lowriders, vendors and enthusiastic San Diego FC supporters. Entertainment including live music and a fashion show on the big stage hadn’t begun yet, nor the Lucha Libre wrestling exhibition, which would start in the evening.

Thumbs up! La Masia SD is a very successful local soccer team. Many of its past players have gone on to play professionally at different levels!

Paul Jimenez of Ground Floor Murals prepares a big canvas for some live spray paint art. I didn’t hang around the event long enough to see its progress.

…

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)!

“May the Fourth” be with Chula Vista!

Star Wars fans rejoice! It’s May the Fourth! And today the Force is extremely powerful in Chula Vista!

As I walked through the big San Diego FC Chrome Ball Tour event in downtown Chula Vista early this afternoon, I noticed the 18th Battalion was attracting a lot of attention. They are a big supporter of San Diego FC.

Not only did the 18th Battalion SDFC Outpost have a table laden with a prize wheel, mini R2-D2, Star Wars helmets and other cool stuff, but I noticed they have a presence at the Vogue Tavern a few blocks up Third Avenue, where I spotted Darth Vader, Star Destroyers and the menacing Death Star looming above the sidewalk! Hopefully Luke Skywalker is nearby!

May the Force be with you!

…

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)!

Cool photo memories from May 2019.

As many of you know, when a new month comes along I like to revisit interesting blog posts from five years ago. It’s time to check out what Cool San Diego Sights was featuring back in May of 2019!

The upcoming links will take you to photographs of dragon boats races in Mission Bay, Cinco de Mayo in Old Town, a Balboa Park Pow Wow, an arts festival in North Park, and the Manzanita Mountain Man Rendezvous.

And there are photos of murals, monuments, the historic El Cuervo adobe ruins (which few people know about) and a super cool stellarium. What’s a stellarium? Aren’t you curious?

Click the following links to see many photos!

An amazing cube, like real Space: full of stars!

Photos of dragon boat races on Mission Bay!

Fun photos of Cinco de Mayo in Old Town!

Natural habitat for birds, wildlife near SeaWorld.

Colorful nature painted near Fiesta Island.

Intertribal dancing at Balboa Park Pow Wow.

Street art painted live at North Park festival!

Freedom Bell at Balboa Park’s Veterans Museum.

Photos of the historic El Cuervo adobe ruins.

Photos of Manzanita Mountain Man Rendezvous!

Art from San Diego’s skateboarding underground.

New mural in San Diego’s drive-through art gallery!

Wreath ceremony on USS Midway honors heroes.

Memorial Day weekend at Festival of the Sea!

POW/MIA monument unveiled at Veterans Museum.

…

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)!

National City installs Historic U.S. Route 101 signs!

Earlier this month, National City installed seven new Historic California US 101 Route street signs. They were placed where old Highway 101, the source of many fond memories, once ran. These seven new signs join thirteen others that were installed in Chula Vista and San Ysidro near the beginning of the year.

This very cool project, which commemorates an important part of history in San Diego’s South Bay, was spearheaded by Jack Gechter of the South Bay Historical Society.

Jack indicated these new signs are located along National City Boulevard, from a spot just north of Chula Vista to a spot just south of Division Street. Here are the exact addresses:

North Bound – National City Blvd. north of C Street (just north of Chula Vista)
North Bound – 2501 National City Blvd.
North Bound – 701 National City Blvd.
North Bound – 141 National City Blvd.
South Bound – 128 National City Blvd.
South Bound – 700 National City Blvd.
South Bound – 2340 National City Blvd.

Learning this, I had to check these new signs out! I spotted six of them and took the upcoming photographs during a walk on Sunday.

Are you curious where US 101 ran south of San Diego?

This 1947 Chevron Map shows the Historic California US 101 Route starting near the US/Mexico Border in San Ysidro, and continuing north along Beyer Blvd toward Chula Vista, along National Avenue (Broadway in Chula Vista and National City Blvd in National City) to 8th Street, along 8th Street to Harbor Drive, then along Harbor Drive to Pacific Highway.

This 1933 AA Map shows a slightly different Historic California US 101 Route at the northerly end of National Avenue (National City Blvd) to 1st Street, then along Main Street.

Should you drive along National City Boulevard, keep an eye out for these new signs!

…

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)!

San Diego Bonsai Club’s Spring Show!

Fantastic examples of bonsai could be viewed by the public this weekend in Balboa Park. The San Diego Bonsai Club hosted their Spring Show and Sale in Casa del Prado’s Room 101.

A series of long, narrow tables appeared to be lined with tiny, ancient, wind-blown trees. It’s uncanny how the beautiful art of bonsai can trick and fascinate the eye.

These bonsai were carefully sculpted by members of the club. The show and sale also featured supplies like pots, soil and starter trees, and expert bonsai technique demonstrations.

Check out these photos. I felt like I was walking beside a miniature forest!

…

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)!

Crazy ski competition in Balboa Park!

Balboa Park was the peculiar venue for a big ski competition today!

Who needs snow when the House of Finland holds its annual lawn program at the International Cottages and provides skis? Grass works fine!

The afternoon Hiihtokilpailu (which is Finnish for ski competition) saw several teams (four athletes each, sharing two long skis) racing cross-country style (without ski poles). I watched the crazy spectacle.

One team couldn’t get out of the starting gate, two had calamitous, spontaneous collapses, and the fourth had major trouble turning around. One machine-like team named the Engineers would go on to win the big Final. (Fortunately, all contestants were awarded cookies.)

These photos of the silly “skiing” contest might make you chuckle.

I probably would’ve fallen over, too!

…

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)!

C Street Keeps It Green for Earth Day!

A special Earth Day event was held today in downtown San Diego. C Street Keeps It Green was the name of the fun environmental event, which took place–surprise!–on two blocks of C Street.

I saw inspirational art being created, spoke to representatives of the Downtown San Diego Partnership, checked out info presented by I Love a Clean San Diego, San Diego Community Power, and the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, and enjoyed learning more about the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum–did you know every second Sunday they are open free to the public? There were smiling vendors, too, and music!

Enjoy some photographs and read the captions…

Inspirational art and messages are created on C Street in San Diego.

Three Falls Brand had all sort of cool merch–many of the designs were a fusion of lucha libre wrestling and hard rock music.

I learned the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum has an exhibition titled Poem ‘ Li Sao’, Qu Yuan & Dragon Boat Festival. The featured, very famous poem, by the father of Chinese romantic poetry, consists of more than 2,470 Chinese characters!

Old photographs show how the Chinese played an important role in early San Diego history.

Smiles by representatives of San Diego Community Power, which provides cleaner electricity from renewable sources like solar and wind at competitive rates.

Another smile! Oside HandMade provided fun small potted plant projects for the Earth Day event.

Creativity in action.

San Diego County Bicycle Coalition provided all sorts of useful information.

I Love a Clean San Diego told me about their recent Creek to Bay Cleanup. Tons of trash were removed from our precious waterways.

I’m shown how small positive choices we make add up! And another big smile!

Music for the event across C Street!

Our beautiful planet Earth.

A quote about nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Shayna Goodwin, a San Diego Clean and Safe Ambassador, creates her first mural. And it’s absolutely incredible!

…

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)!

Kids fighting cancer: a Celebration of Champions!

The 29th Celebration of Champions was held today in San Diego at Embarcadero Marina Park North!

Families from around the region gathered for relay races, a circle of life, and happy activities celebrating kids who fight childhood cancer. The event benefits Rady Children’s Peckham Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, which offers one of the nation’s top pediatric cancer programs.

Young kids played and romped during the festival, and families remembered loving children who had tragically passed away.

Generous sponsors ran relays with individual families and children, everyone cheering encouragement. The San Diego Padres and Gulls were present, as were SDSU cheerleaders and Star Wars cosplayers and Batman with his cool Batmobile! I almost forgot the pony rides and carnival!

What an inspirational event. An immense crowd had gathered in the San Diego sunshine. Faith in humanity restored. You had to be there.

If you’d like to help out Rady Children’s Hospital, click here!

…

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)!

Jokes, Jazz, and Razzmatazz in City Heights!

Looking for something fun to do in San Diego this weekend? Head over to City Heights both Saturday and Sunday for the premier of Jokes, Jazz, and Razzmatazz!

The Jokes, Jazz and Razzmatazz multimedia art installation is opening at the City Heights Culture Atelier. The Atelier is a new cultural center in City Heights where local artists collaborate in the development of personal and collective works. (Perhaps you recall seeing my photos of their Beyond the Anthropocene installation last year.)

The event includes an artist reception, stand-up comedy show and live Jazz! The art, music, and comedy experience will be spontaneous and unpredictable . . . a razzle-dazzle razzmatazz!

The Atelier is located at 4425 Home Avenue, at the intersection of Home Avenue and Fairmount Avenue (the Columbus Club of San Diego building).

The free event welcomes the public both today and tomorrow starting at 2 pm. See the graphic above for the schedule!

…

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)!