Adams Avenue Street Fair headlines big festival weekend
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Get out and have some block party fun. Photo: Courtesy of Uptown11 Studios
The Adams Avenue Street Fair is taking over Normal Heights this weekend for one of the city's biggest block parties.
Why it matters: The annual event started in the 1980s for the community to celebrate the new neighborhood sign. It's since grown into Southern California's largest two-day free music festival, drawing about 80,000 people from around San Diego and other states.
Driving the news: The festival has expanded over the past few years, now covering 10 city blocks with 75 musical acts on seven stages, performances by the Fern Street Circus, three beer gardens, and hundreds of food, art and retail vendors.
- Free comedy shows at the Adams Avenue Theater are new this year.
- Local indie rock group The Schizophonics and San Diego-based soul and funk band The Styletones are two of the headliners, plus internationally touring artists.
- The giant carnival rides are a major attraction for kids, and those tickets raise money for Adams Elementary School.
What they're saying: "The longevity speaks for itself," said organizer Julia Sanchez, who first attended the event as a teenager in 1993.
- "It's such a cool, eclectic place with a melting point of all different people that come together," she said.
Stop by: Enjoy the party from 10am-10pm on Saturday and 10am-6pm on Sunday.
Zoom out: San Diego will be buzzing this weekend with other festivals that you won't want to miss.
🌺 The Pacific Islander Festival is the largest and longest-running celebration of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander culture in the U.S.
- Ski Beach on Mission Bay will be filled with food, crafts, island music, traditional dances and car, truck and motorcycle shows all weekend.
🏄🏻♀️ Catch some of the world's best professional female surfers compete at the three-day Super Girl Surf Festival around the Oceanside Pier.
- The free event brings women's sports, art and music together with seven free concerts, a village of food, drink and art vendors, plus beach volleyball, soccer, skating and BMX competitions.
🍻 Oktoberfest celebrations are also kicking off around the county.
- The East Village Oktoberfest turns Quartyard into a German beer hall filled with lederhosen and dirndls, craft brews, Bavarian pretzels and sausages, and polka music from Zeitgeist Oktoberfest Band. Tickets are $20 for this event on Saturday downtown.
- The Carlsbad Strawberry Fields will host the 43rd annual Oktoberfest Fall Festival with stein holding, wiener toss and yodeling competitions, plus a live band in the Bier Garten on Saturday. Tickets are $15.
The bottom line: Get outside and have some fun enjoying summer at these community events.
