• Sea World
• San Diego Zoo
• Dining
• Special Events

May 2008

Zydeco & Blues Festival — 9 - 11 May 2008 (annual) Spanish Landing Park The Zydeco & Blues Festival in Spanish Landing Park, San Diego, brings four stages of top quality music to the California seaside.

Zydeco & Blues Festival, San Diego

The Kills — 19 May 2008 The Casbah Girl boy duo The Kills are on tour in support of new album, Midnight Boom. This date is at the Casbah in San Diego.

The Kills. Courtesy of SJM Concerts

San Diego Zoo — Daily San Diego Zoo Located in beautiful Balboa Park, the 100-acre San Diego Zoo was founded in 1916 with an original collection of 50 animals. Now, less than a century later, it cares for more than 4,000 animals from 800 different species, while its plant collection includes more than 6,500 species - making it one of the finest zoos in the world.

Giant Panda at San Diego Zoo

Hotel del Coronado — Daily Hotel del Coronado With a spectacular beachfront location on Coronado Island in San Diego, the Hotel del Coronado is one of America's most beautiful beach resorts. The hotel was built in 1888 and offers visitors modern luxury in an enchanting Victorian atmosphere. Facilties include eight restaurants and a state-of-the-art spa. There are seasonal activity programmes for children and teenagers.

A view of the Hotel del Coronado

San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum — Daily San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum The San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum is located onboard the USS Midway, the longest-serving aircraft carrier in U.S. Navy history. The ship's 47 years of service stretches from the end of World War II until the liberation of Kuwait in 1991. A self-guided audio tour takes visitors through 40 exhibits and 21 restored aircraft, with access to all areas including the flight deck and the island superstructure. There are also interactive exhibits and flight simulators as well as story-telling from Midway veterans.

The mighty USS Midway steams on

SeaWorld — Daily SeaWorld A gigantic adventure marine park, SeaWorld San Diego provides fantastic family entertainment. It offers sea lion and killer whale shows, close-ups with dolphins, penguins and sharks, screamingly good rides and water coasters.

Shamu & Baby Shamu

Mission San Diego de Alcala — Daily Mission San Diego de Alcala The Mission San Diego de Alcala was founded in 1769 and was the first church in California. The present building was completed in 1813. Originally the Mission and the Spanish fort were located on the hill above Old Town San Diego, but the Mission soon moved to its present location, five miles up the San Diego River. Today it is head of an active Catholic Parish in the Diocese of San Diego.

Mission San Diego de Alcala

Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego — Daily; not Wed Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego is a leading institution with a permanent collection of more than 3000 works created after 1950. The collection is particulary strong in Minimalism and Pop art, conceptual art, installations, Latin American art and works from California and the Tijuana region. The museum has another branch in nearby La Jolla and is also set to expand, with new gallery space directly opposite the existing site due to open in 2007.

Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla

Red Bull Air Race World Series: San Diego — 3 - 4 May 2008 (annual)

San Diego

The Red Bull Air race series stages spectacular stunt-flying competitions across the world. Fearless pilots race at speeds of up to 400 km/h through low-level inflatable "air gates". This leg of the 2008 competition is in San Diego, California.

Old Town Fiesta Cinco de Mayo — 3 - 4 May 2008 (annual)

San Diego

San Diego's Old Town Fiesta Cinco de Mayo is Southern California's premier celebration of Hispanic culture, history and diversity, commemorating the Mexican defeat of the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. The free two-day festival attracts more than 150,000 visitors each year.

Adams Avenue Roots & Folk Festival — 3 - 4 May 2008 (annual)

Adams Avenue

The outdoor Adams Avenue Roots and Folk Festival showcases local and national folk acts, from blues, vintage swing and Appalachian to Norteño, country boogie, cowboy yodelling and Cajun.

North Park Spring Festival — 18 May 2008 (annual)

San Diego

San Diego's North Park Spring Festival is a free celebration of arts, culture and entertainment that attracts more than 40,000 visitors every year, held along University Avenue in the heart of North Park.

Rhythms of India: The Art of Nandalal Bose (1882-1966) — 23 Feb - 18 May 2008; not Mon

San Diego Museum of Art

Rhythms of India, at the San Diego Museum of Art, is an extensive retrospective on Nandalal Bose (1882-1966), an artist considered the father of Indian modern art. It features around 100 paintings and reveals his influence on India's independent movement.

San Diego Sicilian Festival — 18 May 2008 (annual)

Little Italy

First held in 1993, this annual music, food and art festival in San Diego's little Italy district celebrates the region's Italian/Sicilian roots. Visitors come from San Diego, all of Southern California, Mexico, Arizona and beyond.

Measured Time: MoPA at 25 — 12 Jan - 29 Jun 2008; not Mon

Museum of Photographic Arts

The Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego celebrates its 25th anniversary with Measured Time, a timeline exhibit highlighting the museum's achievements since its 1983 inception. The exhibit, drawn from the permanent collection, is displayed on the 44-foot Atrium wall.

Picturing the Process — 12 Jan - 29 Jun 2008; not Mon

Museum of Photographic Arts

Picturing the Process, at the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, documents the evolution of photography by highlighting the works of innovative photographers since the invention of the camera.

Georgia O'Keeffe and the Women of the Stieglitz Circle — 24 May - 28 Sep 2008; not Mon

San Diego Museum of Art

Georgia O'Keeffe was a major figure in American art from the 1920s onwards. This exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art features paintings, drawings and photographs by the artist and other female Modernists who influenced her.

San Diego Padres - Major League Baseball — 31 Mar - 28 Sep 2008 (annual)

PETCO Park

PETCO Park is home to the San Diego Padres Major League Baseball team and stages regular games from March to September.

Nancy Rubins: Pleasure Point — Daily; not Wed

Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

On permanent display at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Pleasure Point is an accumulation of rowboats, canoes, jet skis and surfboards suspended above the west side of the museum's La Jolla facility, created by Los-Angeles based sculptor Nancy Rubins.

The Artful Soul — Daily; not Sun

The Artful Soul

Funky Artful Soul in La Jolla, San Diego, has a wide selection of distinctive jewellery, handbags, pottery and other gifts by some of the hottest up-and-coming designers. They feature many one-of-a-kind pieces, and at very reasonable prices.

The Wine Bank — Daily

The Wine Bank

If you're looking for that limited release cabernet sauvignon or that hopelessly rare cognac, you just might find it at the Wine Bank, in the Gaslamp Quarter. They offer a huge range of wines, liqueurs and spirits, and the basement vaults host tasting events on weekend nights.

Muttropolis — Daily

Muttropolis

Okay, so your dog's going out and she hasn't got a thing to wear... Muttropolis is La Jolla's headquarters for doggie fashion, kitty collars, toys and more. They even host doggie "socials" where your pet can meet and mingle with other canines.

Nunu's — Daily

Nunu's

Nunu's in Hillcrest isn't your average dive bar. The lines for one are a dead giveaway that this place is special. The cocktails are another sign: they're made with care and oh so tasty. The crowd's lively (another departure from the traditional dive) and diverse (and less numerous on weeknights), as is the music on the jukebox. You'll want to get there early to snag a red vinyl booth - the perfect spot for observing the locals rubbing elbows with the scenesters.

The Field — Daily

The Field

The Field is as authentic an Irish pub gets outside of Ireland: shipped piece by piece from the old country to San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter. Visit for live music, shepherds pie, an honest pint of Guinness and Irish whiskey. There are live performances most Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Thin — Thu, Fri, and Sat only

Thin

San Diego venue Thin describes itself as a "hyper-contemporary environment engineered for drinks," and once inside you'll know what they mean. Trippy lighting, colourful, sculptural walls and tables, and DJ-driven music set the tone for the 'environment'. As for the drinks, they're architectural, iridescent, and very likely new to you. The crowd is hip, chic, and quite possibly engineered for cool.

Museum of Photographic Arts — Daily; not Mon

Museum of Photographic Arts

Founded in 1983 and housed in the Casa De Balboa building in San Diego, the Museum of Photographic Arts utilises both its permanent collection and temporary exhibitions to conserve and explore the versatility of the medium.