Tag: free

Fun stuff at San Diego FC playoff FanFest!

I was in Mission Valley today, so of course I had to ride the trolley over to Snapdragon Stadium. I wanted to check out the free-to-the-public FanFest before San Diego FC’s first ever playoff game!

Can you believe it? San Diego FC’s debut season, and they finished in first place in the MLS Western Conference! Can they make it all the way to the championship?

Fans were just beginning to arrive when I swung by the outdoor event, which was officially called the Ford FanFest. I was pretty early. I’m sure the crowds were much larger after I departed.

What could fans do? Kick soccer balls around. Listen to live music. Have their hair cut. Make fun crafts. Drink beer and visit food trucks. Buy classy San Diego FC merchandise. Admire a row of cool lowriders. Visit a photo booth. Spin prize wheels and check out various sponsors…

Yes, there was plenty to do!

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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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Two special Halloween events in Balboa Park!

Two very special, free events are coming up next weekend in Balboa Park, in time for Halloween!

The San Diego Sculptors Guild in Spanish Village Art Center will be hosting Glowing in the Hollow on Saturday October 25th, 2025 from 5 to 10 pm.

The Sculpture Guild’s courtyard and the tunnel leading to it will be aglow with illuminated art. The newly constructed stage in a corner of their courtyard will be alive with music performed by Auva Xuln. Guild artist Justin is part of the band!

There will be treats, drinks and interactive experiences, and costumes are welcome!

Also next Saturday, between 11 am and 4 pm, the House of Scotland among Balboa Park’s International Cottages will be celebrating Samhain. There will be piping and drumming, and dancing, and plenty of Scottish food!

Samhain is the Celtic festival at the end of the harvest and a basis for Halloween!

Why not enjoy both events next Saturday? Sounds like fun!

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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!

Kids can become Junior Rangers in Balboa Park!

Kids visiting Balboa Park are invited to become Junior Rangers! It’s fun and it’s free!

Simply head over to the Balboa Park Visitors Center and ask one of the friendly volunteers at the front counter about the program!

Becoming a Junior Ranger is super cool! You get an Activity Journal which has fun puzzles, helpful information, and a Junior Ranger Certificate inside. You also get an awesome Junior Ranger badge sticker! I was surprised to learn you might get a Junior Friends of Balboa Park patch, too!

The program was created by the City of San Diego Parks and Recreation Department. It encourages young people to respect and care for our beautiful Balboa Park, San Diego’s crown jewel.

Is your family visiting Balboa Park? Swing by the Visitors Center first thing, learn what special things are going on in the park, perhaps grab a souvenir or snack, and excite the kids with this cool opportunity!

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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 free Phantom of the Opera concert in San Diego!

A great free concert will be held in San Diego this coming Saturday, October 25, 2025. Just in time for Halloween, The Phantom of the Opera in Concert will be performed in Balboa Park at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion!

The 75 minute concert will begin 6:30 pm, but you might want to arrive early for the best seats. The concert will feature soprano Laynee Dell and tenor Cole Tornberg and include popular music from Phantom of the Opera and spectacular organ solos with spooky projections on the front of the Pavilion!

Audience members are encouraged to come in costume! You’ll be able to get your photos taken with the artists on stage!

This very special concert is presented by the Spreckels Organ Society.

How awesome!

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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!

Beautiful ofrenda at San Diego History Center.

The San Diego History Center in Balboa Park, which is open free to everybody, has put up a beautiful ofrenda (altar) for Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

Their ofrenda appears a bit different from prior years, but it still honors and remembers figures from San Diego’s past. Oh–and San Diego’s famous town dog from the late 19th century, Bum, too!

Making a family ofrenda is a beloved tradition in Mexico. The beautiful altar in the San Diego History Center also contains traditional objects like marigolds, candles, papel picado and photographs of loved ones who’ve passed on.

A nearby table invites visitors to the museum to make their own tissue paper marigold. These hand-made marigolds can be added to the altar with a note containing the name of your loved one and a message.

You may also take your special marigold home.

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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!

Watch a plein air painting demonstration in Balboa Park!

Visitors to Spanish Village Art Center in Balboa Park were in for a treat today. One of the resident artists had set up on the patio with easel and canvas, and was demonstrating the art of plein air painting! Plein air is French and means outdoors.

Michelle Joy Montrose, the artist, who works out of Studio 1, was there outside, painting one of the other studios in Spanish Village. Several chairs were set up behind her so that anyone could watch. That’s what I did!

Speaking to Michelle, I learned she aims to paint every studio, and perhaps create a coffee table book containing all the images. That should be very colorful!

I also learned that Spanish Village intends to have more of these free public demonstrations in the future. It’s a great idea. Engaging with artists on a sunny San Diego day is educational and a lot of fun.

Michelle was happy to talk about all sorts of stuff, including the creative process. She’s a writer, too!

Should you ever visit Balboa Park and walk through Spanish Village, make sure to see whether a cool art demonstration is taking place out on the patio!

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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!

Join a free, fun Kayak Cleanup Event!

Would you like to help clean the wetlands of south San Diego Bay? Would you like to do so while kayaking on the beautiful water? Would you like to do so for free? YES!

No kayak, no problem. They’re provided. No experience kayaking, no problem. It’s easy going. Cleanup materials are provided, too.

Ocean Connectors organizes fun Kayak Cleanup Events that anyone can freely join. I happened to observe one such event today during my visit to Pepper Park in National City.

I spotted a sign concerning the event at the boat ramp, then wandered over to the parked Chula Vista Water Sports truck to ask all about it. Chula Vista Water Sports provides the kayaks. They partner with Ocean Connectors.

I saw the participating kayakers were busy across the Sweetwater River channel, removing bits of litter, cleaning our environment, cruising slowly, gently along. I think I might try this! Each event lasts 2 to 4 hours.

Check out this page to learn all about these Kayak Cleanup Events and book your future participation. Groups up to 15 can join. And yes, it’s all completely FREE!

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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!

Concert celebrates The Beatles’ visit to San Diego!

Do you love The Beatles? Would you like to go a free concert that celebrates the 60th anniversary of The Beatles making their one and only appearance in San Diego?

On September 1, 2025 (Labor Day) at 7:30 pm, the Spreckels Organ Pavilion’s Classic Rock Band will be playing a huge selection of favorite hits by The Beatles. Have you ever heard classic rock played with drums, guitars and a gigantic outdoor pipe organ? Here’s your chance!

San Diego Civic Organist Raúl Prieto Ramírez will be joined by the Pavilion Rock Band Members to create a very cool and memorable experience. I caught a bit of the band’s rehearsal this afternoon.

The concert is part of the 37th San Diego International Summer Organ Festival. You can see the concert schedule here. (Next Monday evening is Not-So-Silent Movie Night!)

To learn more about the upcoming The Beatles 60th San Diego Anniversary concert, click here!

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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!

Free poetry parties, workshops in Balboa Park!

Poetry lovers! All sorts of activities await you in San Diego’s wonderful Balboa Park!

Free to the public and open to anyone at least 18 years old, these Balboa Park Poetic Programs celebrate creativity and the power of the written and spoken word. The three ongoing programs are: Poetry Party, Otherwise Improvise, and Poetic Legacy.

Poetry Party is a fun event held on the first Friday of every month from 3 to 5 pm in Balboa Park’s Santa Fe Room, at 2150 Pan American Road West (across from the International Cottages). The description on one flyer: Read your favorite poetry, listen, or make the scene. Be bold, adventurous, and experience the power of the spoken word.

Otherwise Improvise is held on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of every month from 2:30 to 5 pm in the Balboa Park Senior Lounge (located in the Casa Del Prado). Be creative! Have even more fun!

Poetic Legacy is a workshop that involves readings and discussions of contemporary and historic poets. Taking prompts from featured poets, participants are then encouraged to write their own poems. This program takes place on the last Friday of every month, from 3 to 5 pm in the Balboa Park Senior Lounge.

The next Poetic Legacy workshop will be held August 29th and will feature poet Naomi Shibab Ney, recipient of numerous honors and awards for her work. In 2019 the Poetry Foundation designated her the Young People’s Poet Laureate for 2019–21.

Want more information concerning the Balboa Park Poetic Programs? Email SLemire@sandiego.gov.

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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!

Zoro Garden Theater Festival in Balboa Park!

This weekend, August 16th and 17th, 2025, the Zoro Garden Theater Festival will be held in San Diego. The unique venue is the “sunken stone grotto” Zoro Garden in Balboa Park!

I thought I’d bring attention to this free, family-friendly festival. It’s certain to be a lot of fun!

As the above sign explains, the Zoro Garden Theater Festival will be a celebration of drama, comedy and creativity. The performances will be between 2 and 5 pm, and will include singing, dancing, music and buskers!

If you’d like to be involved, enlarge my photo and find an email address and phone number.

Will I see you there?

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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!