Get your New Year off on the right paw by taking in a free concert this holiday weekend in the Spreckels Organ Pavilion.

On Friday at 2:00 p.m. San Diego’s own Civic Organist, Carol Williams, will give you plenty of reason to pull yourself away from the parades and bowl games on TV to enjoy New Year’s Day in sunny Balboa Park. Several museums, the Puppet Theater, and the zoo will also be open January 1, so plan on making a day of it. (See schedule.)

Carol returns to the bench for an encore performance the following Sunday, January 3, at 2:00 p.m. to continue celebrating the Organ Pavilion’s 95th birthday. (Wow! That’s like 20 in dog years!) She’ll open both concerts with “Processional March” by Humphrey Stewart, which happens to be the very first piece performed to the public when the organ first opened on New Year’s Day in 1915. (Humphrey Stewart was the first Civic Organist of San Diego.)

The program for both concerts will also feature other popular favorites, including tunes by Irving Berlin, the Gershwins, Bach, Rodgers & Hammerstein, the Beatles, as well as Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumble Bee,” seen here in the video below.

Happy New Year!

Only in a garden as glorious as the Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden could a regular maintenance task be transformed into a public “event.”

This Saturday, January 2, members of the San Diego Rose Society and park gardeners will use the annual pruning of the garden’s 2,500-plus bushes as an opportunity for anyone to learn proper trimming techniques and to have all their thorny questions answered.

To partake in this hands-on activity, grab your pruning shears and gloves and head over to the garden, across from the Natural History Museum, between 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

This is a rare chance to find out how to get your own rose bushes to grow as full and fragrant as the ones in Balboa Park’s award-winning Rose Garden.

Since it can be somewhat overwhelming for out-of-town holiday travelers to sort through all the things to do in Balboa Park between Christmas and New Year’s Day, I’ve dug up this season’s hotlist for bipeds.

But before setting out on my itinerary, be sure to get your paws on a Balboa Park Passport or Stay-for-the-Day Pass at the Balboa Park Visitors Center, which allows you to visit several different museums at reduced prices.

Darwin: Evolution\Revolution at the Natural History Museum — This most comprehensive display on Darwin ever assembled reveals how you and I aren’t so different after all.

Under the Sea/Amazon at the Rueben H. Fleet Science Center — Witness evolutionary forces in their present configurations as IMAX cameras immerse audiences in our planet’s most wondrous and remote places.

Calder Jewelry at the San Diego Museum of Art — Even if bling isn’t your thing, this extensive showcase of the famous 20th-century sculptor’s designs comprise some the best work Calder did in any medium.

Porsche at the San Diego Automotive Museum — While a museum setting isn’t the best place to chase and bark at cars, it’s more than appropriate for an exhibit of classic examples of these hot rods.

Snoopy Soars with NASA at the Air & Space Museum — Often overlooked in the Apollo astronauts’ heroic missions is the critical role played by the world’s most famous beagle.

For anyone under the impression that Balboa Park’s holiday celebrations begin and end with December Nights, have I got news for you. Now that the crowds have cleared, there’s simply no better time to truly feast your eyes on a number of bright, shiny displays still on view.

For starters, you don’t need to have tickets to the Old Globe’s presentation of Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas to experience a taste of holidays in Who-ville. Currently adorning the Globe’s Copley Plaza are dozens of creative cut-outs of all your favorite Grinch characters along with a generously ornamented Who-ville Christmas tree.

Continuing up the lighted Prado toward the Plaza de Panama, you can still enjoy SDG&E’s festive canopy of energy efficient lights, which nicely complements the Park’s traditional display of reindeer pulling Santa and his magical sleigh–with all my presents–skyward.

Daytime visitors to Balboa Park are likewise treated to their own impressive presentation should they sniff inside the Botanical Building. There they’ll find an extravagant arrangement of hundreds of red poinsettias, the 23rd installment of this annual holiday flower showcase.  

Topping my list of must-see holiday decorations in the Park is the profusely decorated Spanish Village Art Center. The crafty artisans who inhabit the Village’s studios have outdone themselves this year with hundreds of ornaments, lights, wreaths, and garlands hanging from every fixed structure and tree in their already quite colorful courtyard, a sight to behold day or night.

If you dread going to the malls during the holiday season, but still want great values on unique merchandise, Balboa Park’s Holiday Shopping Event is your best chance to cross everyone off your list.

On Saturday, December 12, eight of the Park’s finest specialty stores are offering discounts of up to 30% on most merchandise for one day only. So if you’ve spent the entire year salivating over that special something for that special someone (or even for yourself), this is the time to fetch it.

For example, photography fiends will love getting a glossy tome featuring their favorite photographer, discounted 25% at the Museum of Photographic Arts. The Reuben H. Fleet Science Center meanwhile has an excellent assortment of fun, educational games and toys, also discounted 25%.

For that Southwest-style decorator on your list, the Museum of Man presents a colorful selection of Native American pottery, jewelry, and textiles—discounted 25%. For more Arts & Crafts–oriented tastes, the Museum of San Diego History will be discounting most of its home décor and unique holiday ornaments 30%.

Also sharing their diverse wares at exceptional prices on December 12 are the San Diego Automotive Museum (15% off); the Balboa Park Visitors Center (20% off); the San Diego Natural History Museum (15% off); and the United Nations International Gift Shop (25% off).

Stores are open by 10 a.m., so be sure to arrive early for best selection!