Tuesday, December 02, 2014

Holiday Things To Do In San Diego


Speaker of the Assembly, Toni Atkins, has a very thorough newsletter. Some staffer or intern put a lot of time into collecting these events, and in no way am I trying to claim that this is my work, but they did a really good job and one would hope that the point of including these in the newsletter is to get the word out about free family events throughout the 78th District and County. I'll sprinkle in more as I find them. [I've already updated this 3 times today, so I decided to make a separate page tab for these listings. If you're on mobile, this is accessible with the pull down menu by the word blog. Still, full post after the photo.




Celebrate the holidays in San Diego – and do it for free!




December 3, Holiday Festival - A Family Celebration, Hotel del Coronado. Beachfront ice rink, visit St. Nick and his elves, and enjoy holiday games and prizes, hot cocoa, food booths, and fireworks. 4 to 9 p.m. Coronado school children perform holiday favorites onstage in Upper Grande Hall, the Vista Walk is transformed into Santa's Village. 6 to 8 p.m. Families enjoy complimentary ROAST - signature S'mores on the Beach, 6 p.m.: Mayor Casey Tanaka turns on 100,000 white lights on property from the top of the turret, 6:45 p.m.: Holiday fireworks display.


December 5, 39th Annual Coronado Christmas Parade & Open House
Parade and Merchants Open House takes place along Orange Avenue, followed by the traditional tree lighting of a 50-foot Christmas tree and free community concert in Rotary Park. Information: www.coronadochamber.com.


December 5-6. Join the festivities during Balboa Park December Nights, a two-day holiday celebration of food, entertainment and fun. Information:www.balboapark.org/decembernights.


December 6, 13th Annual Christmas Comes to Imperial Beach, 12 to 5p.m. at the Portwood Pier Plaza. Santa is scheduled to arrive at noon by fire truck! Several bands will perform throughout the day. Holiday crafts, face painting, children’s games, raffle gifts and much more.

December 6, South Park Holiday Walkabout, 6-10pm. Several businesses provided complimentary refreshments at the event, including Captain Kirk's Coffee, Rebecca's Coffeehouse, Cafe Madeleine, and The Big Kitchen. The San Diego Mandolin Orchestra performed for the crowd before and after the tree lighting.
The South Park Business Group worked with San Diego artist Todd Williams (who also designed the metal tree sculpture in Alchemy) to create something that would capture the character of Luminaria and South Park. The tree is built atop one of the South Park kiosks on the Grape Street Square between Fern St. and 30th St. Official tree lighting on Sunday, December 7. (added by RB)


December 6, 51st North Park Toyland Parade and Festival, University Avenue between Utah and Iowa Streets, Parade 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Festival 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Marching bands, upbeat dance groups, vintage cars, beauty queens, city officials and more. Santa Claus will be riding atop his merry red fire engine.


December 6, 35th Annual OB Holiday Parade, 5:05 p.m. Newport Ave. between Sunset Cliffs and Abbott, marching bands, troops of scouts, business-sponsored floats and local luminaries.


Listen to free organ concerts at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park each Sunday afternoon from 2 to 3 p.m. The Organ Pavilion features the world’s largest outdoor pipe organ, a San Diego landmark for nearly a century. Organists will be performing holiday favorites, as well as waltzes and show tunes from the organ’s monstrous 32-foot lead alloy pipes. Information: www.spreckelsorgan.org/


Enjoy festivities in Old Town State Park. For information call: 619-297-3100. They include:

Battle of San Pasqual December 7 (10 a.m. - 4 p.m.).
Twelve Days of Christmas Celebration Mormon Battalion December 12-23
Bonfire Nights. December 13, 14, 26–30.
Holiday in the Park, Saturday, December 13
63rd Anniversary Las Posadas, Sunday, December 14
A Christmas Carol at the Whaley House, Monday, December 16 & Tuesday, December 17. Information: www.oldtownsandiegoguide.com.

Discover The “Whoville” decorations in the plaza outside The Old Globe Theatre December 1-27, coinciding with the theatre’s annual holiday production of “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” Information: www.balboapark.org.

December 7, SONO Fest Chili Cookoff. 11am-5pm. Amazing community festival! Beer, Bands & Chili! 32nd & Thorn Streets in North Park. http://sonofestchilicookoff.com/. Official South Park tree lighting follows at 6pm at Grape St. Square.

December 7, La Jolla Christmas Parade and Holiday Festival 1:30 to 5 p.m. Girard and Prospect in downtown La Jolla. The event includes marching bands, floats, equestrian units, vintage automobiles and an appearance by Santa Claus. Information: www.ljparade.com/.


December 8, Pearl Harbor Memorial Service, 8 a.m., joint event with VFW Post 5477, American Legion Post 820 and FRA Branch 289 on the Imperial Beach Pier. This event celebrates the 73rd anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. Attendees are advised to dress warmly.


December 13, Handmade Holiday at the San Diego Central Library; 9:30am - 4pm Join us for a day of family fun and holiday shopping at our new Central Library! Buy locally, handmade goods by over 30 local artists and designers; listen to live music curated by Rarefied Recording; get creative at the kids' craft table co-sponsored by Rare Hare Studio and Art FORM; and enjoy a special appearance by the Grinch presented by the Library Shop – and more fun activities to come at this community event brought to you by the Friends of the San Diego Central Library. (added by RB)

December 13, Mission Bay Christmas Boat Parade of Lights, 6 to 9 p.m. starts at Quivira Basin. More than 100 illuminated powerboats and sailboats parade along Mission Bay; the parade ends with a fireworks display at 9 p.m. Best viewing is from Crown Point, the east side of Vacation Island or the west side of Fiesta Island.


December 13, Pacific Beach Holiday Parade, 1 p.m. along Garnet Avenue. Ten thousand spectators will be treated to floats, school marching bands, color guards, children's marching groups, clowns and Santa Claus.


December 14, Gaslamp Holiday Pet Parade, 3 p.m. in downtown San Diego’s historic Gaslamp Quarter. Owners and their dressed-up pets march down the decorated streets of the neighborhood, ending at a Pet Expo at Hilton Gaslamp Park, 1 to 5 p.m., featuring an award-ceremony for best-dressed pups. Information: www.gaslamp.org/.


December 14 & 21, 44th Annual Port of San Diego Parade of Lights. Shelter Island is the start of the parade at 5:30 p.m., moving to Harbor Island at 6 p.m., The Embarcadero at 6:30 p.m., Seaport Village at 7 p.m., and the Ferry Landing in Coronado at 7:30 p.m. More than 100 private decorated boats participate. Great views from Shelter Island and Harbor Island.www.sdparadeoflights.org.


December 26, Big Bay Balloon Parade. 3 p.m. Starts near the County Administration Building on Harbor Dr. and runs south, ending at the corner of Harbor Dr. and Pacific Highway near Seaport Village. Floats, balloons, and marching bands.

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