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Festivals
Posted on Feb 29, 2012.
As far as my tummy is concerned, the four-month break in Lawn Programs at the House of Pacific Relations International Cottages is the longest four months of the year. Sure, there are plenty of other food-laden festivals in Balboa Park year-round, but nothing satisfies my gourmet palette quite as much as the smorgasbord of treats served up by 32 different cultures from March through October.
For those still groggy from hibernation, each Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. one of the International Cottages hosts a raging cultural festival featuring traditional music and dance, colorful costumes, arts and crafts, and, of course, food. The event is free, and if you walk on four legs and have mastered the fine art of festival foraging (and begging), so is the food (bipeds pay a nominal fee for each dish).
As in previous years, a culture very close to home, Mexico, presents the first Lawn Program of the year on March 4. As a pre-celebration to the April 30 Dia de los Niños holiday, the event includes a lively array of mariachi music, folklorico dance performers, and all the carne asada and other spicy Mexican dishes one can ingest in one hour.
As if that wasn’t enough, the following week, on March 11, the House of Ireland kicks off St. Patrick’s Day week by making the lawn even greener with authentic Irish step dancers, festive costumes, music, and an assortment of home-baked pastries, just like mom used to make in the old country.
There are more events to follow, 32 to be exact, so be sure to check the schedule regularly to see when scraps from your favorite ethnic cuisine will be dropping on International Cottages' lawn.
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Posted on Feb 15, 2012.
Question: What do you get when you combine the resources of two dozen cultural organizations with free admission for children 12 and under and multiply it by an astronomically high fun factor? (Hint: You don’t need to be a member of the Canis lupus familiaris to know the answer to this one.)
Answer: The 3rd annual Balboa Park Science Family Day, of course!
Come a-wearing the green on Saturday, March 17, when Balboa Park museums and arts organizations present a pot of gold’s worth of science-themed activities from 11am to 3am—all included in the price of admission.
The park-wide Family Day event kicks off the weeklong San Diego Festival of Science & Engineering 2012. In addition to the hands-on activities, the day will feature free drawings for prizes at the Visitors Center and the unveiling and procession of one of the world’s longest DNA models ever made.
Almost every branch of science and engineering will be covered at the various venues, from checking out bones like a forensic scientist (best job in the world) at the Museum of Man to learning the finer points of aerodynamics by folding and flinging paper airplanes at the Air & Space Museum.
And did I mention free museum admission for pups 12 and under with a paid adult?
To start planning your day’s itinerary, be sure to check out the complete list of Science Family Day activities at balboapark.org.
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Posted on Nov 30, 2011.
When you walk on four legs, you invariably develop an affinity for massive holiday parties where hundreds of thousands of bipeds bump elbows as they gawk at the many sights and sounds while trying to balance camera gear, a warm beverage, and a plate filled with scrumptious vittles (opposable thumbs are so overrated!).
Don’t get me wrong, I would gladly attend this weekend’s December Nights 
event, Balboa Park’s official kick off to the holiday season, even if I knew I wasn’t going to be showered with funnel cake, kettle corn, French fries, and fish tacos.
What’s not to love about a festive wonderland filled with music, caroling, dancing, children’s performances, historic buildings decked out with colorful lights, and enough holiday cheer to fill Big Foot’s stocking?
And did I mention there will be food? Lots of food. In the International Cottages’ Christmas Festival alone you can try out delicacies from dozens of different cultures, including empanadas, egg rolls, latkes, pierogi, baklava, paella, and gyros.
There will also be food courts set up in the Cascades Holiday Marketplace (between the Natural History Museum and Reuben H. Fleet), near the Moreton Bay Fig Tree, and at the Palisades Midway, featuring even more gourmet flavors from around the world.
But I digress.
This year’s event will mark the 30th anniversary of the lovely Santa Lucia Procession at the Museum of Man. Alongside such traditional activities will be the debut of the new Botanical Garden Stage, featuring lively entertainment and, you guessed it, food!
After stuffing yourself like a Thanksgiving turkey and depositing any leftovers into the nearest canine garbage disposal, bipeds are encouraged to roll into the many museums that will extend free admission both nights of the event, from 5 to 9pm.
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Posted on Sep 28, 2011.
With Halloween falling on a Monday this year, I understand many bipedal parents are already fretting over how to fill an entire pre-Halloween weekend. Well, fret no more, because once again, more than 20 cultural attractions in Balboa Park are scaring up another wooftastic Halloween Family Day on Saturday, October 29.
In addition to presenting a huge assortment of hands-on activities and crafts, participating museums are offering free admission to children 12 and under with a paid adult admission. But just because you’ll be going in and out of classy museums all day does not mean you should be shy about donning your most outrageous costume — fit for family consumption, of course. In fact pups in disguise are likely to be treated to extra treats.
Speaking of pups and treats, canine ones that is, there will be an opportunity for you to win some yummy prizes in the Doggie Costume Contest at the Spanish Village Art Center while your two-legged litter mates create fancy trick-or-treat bags to fill with more sweet edibles.
As all the special Family Day activities will take place between 11am and 3pm, it’s probably not a bad idea to monitor the schedule between now and October 29 to plan your day’s itinerary ahead of time.
Last Chance to Vote for Balboa Park’s Top Dog!
If you don’t vote, you can’t complain, so be sure to cast your selection in Balboa Park’s Top Dog Photo Contest before end of day Friday, September 30. After all, you wouldn’t want just any pooch to enjoy an exclusive overnight stay at Loews Coronado Bay Resort and a Su’ruff Camp package. And if you’ve already voted, don’t get any harebrained ideas about stuffing the ballot box for your neighbor’s or sister’s entry. We know where you live—at least your computer’s IP address.
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Posted on Sep 07, 2011.
It isn’t every day that four museums in Balboa Park come together as a pack to throw an epic party. And that should be reason enough to see what all the fuss is about next Wednesday, September 14, when four major park entities host Viva Mexico!, a celebration of Mexican Independence.
One ticket, costing only a few bones more than admission to just one of these museums, grants my bipedal pals entry into the Mingei International Museum, the San Diego Museum of Art, the Museum of Man, and the Timken Museum of Art.
That $15 ticket (with advance purchase) would already be more than worth its price to see each museum’s exhibition galleries. But on September 14, from 5 to 7:30pm, holders can sample a Mexican-inspired delicacy and beverage from the Prado Restaurant at each venue, see colorful folkloric dances, and hear authentic mariachi music as musicians roam the party spaces.
Although beer, wine, and tequila are on the beverage list, the Viva Mexico! celebration is a great opportunity for families to immerse their pups in Mexican culture and view exhibitions like From El Greco to Dalí: Spanish Masters from the Pérez Simón Collection at the San Diego Museum of Art, Modern Day Mummy at the Museum of Man, and George Inness in Italy at the Timken Museum of Art.
To sweeten an already sweet deal, a Family Four Pack of tickets is only $40 in advance and children 6 and under are free.
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Posted on Jul 27, 2011.
Any other time of year, pretty much any green lawn will make me one happy pup—whether it’s in one of Balboa Park’s three dog parks, a lush picnic or playground area, or the lawns that dot the Central Mesa area. During the summer, however, especially on Sunday afternoons beginning at 2pm, only one lawn will do, and that’s the lawn playing host to the International Cottages’ Lawn Program.
From March through October, one of 32 different “Houses” that make up the House of Pacific Relations International Cottages presents an elaborate festival to introduce everyone to the distinctive sights, tastes, and sounds of their culture. And wouldn’t you know it, these Lawn Programs invariably involve food—lots of food. I mean like really good food.
Take this weekend’s Lawn Program served, er … I mean, presented by the House of Columbia on July 31. It will feature Colombian tamales, arepas (plum cake), plantanos (fried bananas) empanadas (meat-filled turnovers), fried pudding, and more. You won’t find those goodies at your typical hot dog stand. Nor will you be entertained while chowing down by traditional dances and music performed in colorful authentic costumes.
If that isn’t enough to whet your appetite, the following week’s cultural festival, courtesy of the House of Peru, treats two- and four-legged guests alike to such Peruvian delicacies as arroz con pollo (rice chicken), papa a la huancaina (potatoes with creamy-cheese sauce), and picarones (fluffy yucca-yam doughnuts served with molasses syrup).
As with any of these Lawn Programs, my motto is always “Go for the food; stay for the folkloric dances … and dessert!”
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Posted on May 25, 2011.
While there is certainly plenty to do in Balboa Park on any given Memorial Day weekend, the House of Pacific Relations International Cottages is making 2011’s one for the history books. Literally.
That’s because not just one, but two howling good dog-friendly celebrations are planned for this weekend. The first (the history book part) celebrates the Cottages’ 75th Anniversary on Saturday, May 28.
A colorful Parade of Nations from the Lily Pond to the Organ Pavilion, led by the U.S. Marine 3rd Air Wing Band, gets the party going at 9:30am. For those of us too dog-tired to get around that early, there will be a continuous stream of ethnic entertainment, exhibits, and (most importantly) food from 10am to 5pm that day.
The 48-hour fiesta continues into Sunday, May 29, with the same tasty ingredients when the International Cottages present the 31st annual Ethnic Food Fair. Among this year’s delicacies are empanada from Columbia, chicken curry from India, Norwegian waffles, Pierogi from Poland, Spanish paella, Baklava from Turkey, and root beer floats … to name just a few.
Though the emphasis of the Ethnic Food Fair is understandably on food (I have no problem with that), the day-long event (from 10:30am-5pm) keeps gourmets in attendance entertained with a vast selection of world dance and music from the 32 participating countries.
Fortunately, a full menu of both food and performances is available on Balboa Park’s website for those of us who prefer to plan our feeding schedule ahead of time.
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Posted on Apr 27, 2011.
There are dog-friendly events in Balboa Park and then there are 
really dog-friendly events. And this Sunday’s free Bark in the Park concert in the Spreckels Organ Pavilion ranks near the top.
Not only are pooches and their families in attendance treated to howling good animal-themed tunes played on the world’s largest outdoor musical instrument, but adoptable hounds, present and future, benefit as well.
For the fifth year in a row, Dr. Carol Williams, San Diego’s Civic Organist, is throwing all her four-legged friends a big juicy bone by organizing this annual event that supports the efforts of the San Diego Humane Society. She is accompanied on the organ’s new console by special young guest and co-organist Suzy Webster.
In addition to the concert, which begins at 2pm, everyone in my pack is invited to walk their leashed human companions across the Organ Pavilion stage in the traditional parade of pooches. And since everyone will be watching, this is an ideal opportunity to don your favorite threads.
This is also a great time to meet prospective new additions to your family at the San Diego Humane Society’s mobile Pet Boutique, where you can also pick up information and ask questions about adopting pets from shelters. All proceeds from Bark 5 in Balboa Park benefit the San Diego Humane Society.
Art Alive
Speaking of worthy fundraisers, this weekend also marks the 30th anniversary of The San Diego Museum of Art’s Art Alive exhibition. Being named after a flower, I’m quite partial to this annual showcase of over 100 floral interpretations of artworks in the museum’s galleries. And Sunday, May 1, is the final day of this three-day display.
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Posted on Apr 12, 2011.
It’s not surprising that the top dog among all non-holiday festivals in Balboa Park is also the biggest of its kind—anywhere!
It’s not surprising that the top dog among all non-holiday festivals in Balboa Park is also the biggest of its kind—anywhere! Of course I’m talking about EarthFair, which in its 22nd year is still the largest free annual environmental fair in the world.
Promising to draw nearly 60,000 visitors, this Sunday’s EarthFair on April 17 will once again feature more than 350 exhibitors, three live music stages, a kid’s activity area, festive parades, an earth-friendly art show, and yummy animal-friendly food.
Whether you want to learn about organic gardening, preserving the environment, reducing pollution, making your home energy efficient, new trends in green technology, healthy living, or alternative medicine, and my favorites, pet adoption and animal protection services, the EarthFair has you covered.
As always, the event kicks off with a Children’s Earth Parade at 10:30am. All species are welcome as participants are invited to dress up as their favorite endangered ones. Though my kind isn’t exactly endangered, as you can tell if you’ve ever cruised by Nate’s Point Dog Park on a weekend afternoon, I always like to show my support for my fellow fury friends who are losing their homes.
Providing additional entertainment throughout the day, the Moon Stage at Park Blvd. and President’s Way will present local contemporary music to get your haunches moving. The Folk Music Stage by the U.N. Building will offer, you guessed it, folk music. And a stage in the children’s area will feature music and storytelling for your entire litter (no pun intended).
For more details on all the activities, getting there, and doing your part to reduce your carbon paw print, visit the San Diego Earthworks website.
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Posted on Apr 06, 2011.
The epically dog-friendly event and charity walk, formerly known as Woofstock, makes its annual return to Balboa Park this Saturday, April 9, from 10am to 3pm. Although it’s been renamed Balboa Barks, this “Day of Peace, Love, & Canine Companions” is still the grooviest Barkapalooza around.
Celebrating the human-canine bond, this year’s Balboa Barks will feature many of the same great activities that drew over 3,000 bipedal attendees to last year’s event. These include demonstrations by the amazing Disc Dogs of Southern California and the Ballistic Racers Flyball Team.
Well-behaved leashed pups in attendance will have a chance to show off their own skills on the flyball course and also play in the K9 Agility Playground. After working up an appetite, your canine friend will especially enjoy some of the delectable goodies offered at the many vendor booths (I’ve got my pack’s back).
General admission is only $7 and free to those who register for the 1.3-mile walk, which gets under way at 9am and costs $35 for adults and $75 for families (visit the Balboa Barks website for details). All proceeds benefit the very worthy Canine Companions for Independence, a local charity that provides free assistance dogs to the disabled. Last year’s event raised $40,000, which buys a lot of dog chow for those hard-working service dogs.
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