1,2,3 Imagine with Elmo and Friends @ Sports Arena 4/22/2010 – 4/25/2010 Event Location: Sports Arena Event Dates(s): 4/22/2010 – 4/25/2010 Event Time(s): Varies – See Event Site for Details Cost: $14.50 -$37.50 Phone Number:(619) 224-4171 Website/Tickets: (Click Here!)

Imagine singing and dancing with Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Big Bird and all your favorite Sesame Street Live friends! It’s as easy as counting “1-2-3 … Imagine!” This high-energy musical will transport audiences to far away places as Ernie captains the high seas, Elmo dances to the rhythm of the African rainforest and Bert meets an octopus who has the blues. It’s a story of adventure and fun that teaches children they can be anyone, do anything and go anywhere with the power of imagination. (Courtesy of Sandiegoarena.com)

Taste of Happy Hour 2010 @ Gaslamp 4/24/2010 Event Location: Gaslamp Event Dates(s): 4/24/2010 – 4/24/2010 Event Time(s): 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm Cost: $30 Phone Number:None Website/Tickets: (Click Here!)

Tres Agaves Tequila presents The Taste of Happy Hour! Enjoy a Saturday afternoon on a self guided tour of over 20 bars and restaurants throughout Downtown, San Diego! Enjoy Happy Hour food items at all locations (except for Double Deuce), sample Tres Agaves Tequila and enjoy a cold Coors Light. You can dance to live music at Henry\’s Pub and afterwards ride a mechanical bull courtesy of the Double Deuce!

Tickets are only $30 pre-sale and $40 the day of the event. Your ticket includes all food sampling and drink vouchers, one each for Tres Agaves Tequila and Coors Light.

Date: Saturday, April 24th (rain or shine)
Time: 1 pm – 6 pm (check in is from 12:45 pm – 3:45 pm)
Host Location (check in): The Tipsy Crow – 770 5th Avenue San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 338-9300 (Courtesy of TASTEofHAPPYHOUR.COM )

Art Walk @ Little Italy 4/24/2010 – 4/25/2010 Event Location: Little Italy Event Dates(s): 4/24/2010 – 4/25/2010 Event Time(s): 11 AM – 6PM Cost: Free Phone Number:619-615-1090 Website/Tickets: (Click Here!)

Known fondly as the largest fine art festival in southern California, Mission Federal ArtWalk is a two-day event held from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on April 24 and 25, 2010 celebrating original works of art. In its 26th year, the fine arts festival has been counted upon by artists and art lovers alike, to bring together all facets of the arts in San Diego and promote the joy and investment in owning original artwork.

The fine art festival features more than 300 artists from all over the United States, as well as Mexico, who display their original art for exhibit and sale. What makes Mission Federal ArtWalk unique is the opportunity to engage directly with fine artists who are respected in their field. A wide array of mediums will be on display, including paintings, sculpture, glasswork, photography, music, dance and entertainment. There is also a special area for kids and families known as KidsWalk, which provides free and interactive creative arts activities including painting, performing arts, music and more.

Mission Federal ArtWalk has partnered with organizations including the Little Italy Association, the City of San Diego, the San Diego International Airport, the County of San Diego, CCDC, San Diego Museum of Art, the Mingei Museum and the San Diego Visual Arts Network to create a spectacular event that attracts more than 120,000 attendees each year and contributes more than $750,000 annually to the local San Diego arts economy.

Mission Federal ArtWalk is an open-air fine art festival that is free to the public, taking place in San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood filling more than 16 city blocks with art and festivities.
(Courtesy of http://www.missionfederalartwalk.org/)

Roots Fest @ Adams Avenue 4/24/2010 – 4/25/2010 Event Location: Adams Avenue Event Dates(s): 3/24/2010 – 3/24/2010 Event Time(s): 10:00AM – 9:00PM Cost: Free Phone Number:None Website/Tickets: (Click Here!)

About Roots Fest on Adams:
The Roots Fest on Adams is a FUN, FREE two-day music festival which focuses on the promotion, preservation and performance of local and nationally touring musical acts.
The Adams Avenue Business Association will proudly present the 37th Annaul Roots Fest on Adams on Saturday and Sunday, April 24 & 25 2010. Over 40,000 visitors attended this FUN, FREE two-day festival last year. We hope all of you who attended enjoyed the live music performances, the vendors and the merchant shops along the Adams Avenue Business District and will return for more this year. (Courtesy of Adamsavenuebusiness.com/)

San Diego Gem Faire @ Scottish Rite Center4/23/2010 – 4/25/2010 Event Location: Scottish Rite Event Center Event Dates(s): 4/23/2010 – 4/25/2010 Event Time(s): 8:00AM – 5:00PM Cost: Free on weekdays; $10 on weekends Phone Number:858-792-4288 Website/Tickets: (Click Here!)

Gem Faire, established in 1989, has become a world renowned marketplace for the finest in gemstones, beads, jewelry, minerals, fossils, meteorites, lapidary equipment, metaphysical items and much more at the lowest prices in today’s market. Over the years, Gem Faire has produced over 40 shows a year, making it the largest gem & jewelry show circuit on the west coast.

Gem Faire has brought together some of the world’s finest jewelry designers, importers, manufacturers, beading instructors, gemstone miners & cutters, along with certified graduate gemologists. At Gem Faire, our professional dealers can also help you assemble, design, and utilize the piece you have carefully chosen and purchased. Or better yet, sign up for a workshop or class and learn how to make your own jewelry! (Courtesy of Gemfaire.com/)

Home Decorating and Remodeling Show @ Del Mar Fairgrounds 4/23/10 – 4/25/2010 Event Location: Del Mar Fairgrounds Event Dates(s): 4/23/2010 – 4/25/2010 Event Time(s): 10 a.m. to 7 p.m Fri and Sat – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m Sun Cost: Free – Parking $9 Phone Number:858-755-1161 Website/Tickets: (Click Here!)

he 34th Annual Winter Home Decorating & Remodeling Show offers more for attendees this year than ever before – and admission is free!
Not only is there hundreds of the best products and services for home renovations and improvements, but the event also showcases the latest innovations for your home, like the new Panasonic Home Theater experience. The Panasonic HD 3D home theater exhibit is a brand new feature and you will be amazed at what a TV can do! Panasonic is traveling the country to exhibit its newest entertainment innovations, and they picked the Del Mar Home Show to introduce the Panasonic HD 3D television to San Diegans.
You can also see the Treasures of King Tut at the Home Show in its first West Coast showing – this museum quality exhibit has perfect replicas of the relics from King Tut\’s Tomb – created after the Egyptian Parliament decreed that the originals could no longer be taken out of the country. It has played to rave reviews worldwide, including by world leaders and U.S. Presidents. And again it is all free for everyone to enjoy.
So the home show again is the top event in San Diego to take care of your remodeling plans and entertain the whole family! See you there!! (Courtesy of http://www.showsusa.net/)

Film Out 2010 @ Birch North Park Theater 4/16/2010 – 4/18/2010 Event Location: Birch North Park theater Event Dates(s): 4/16/2010 – 4/22/2010 Event Time(s): - Cost: $150 for Festival FilmPass; $25.00 Opening Night; $10 for individual admission Phone Number:619-239-8836 Website/Tickets: (Click Here!)

With approximately 50 shorts and features to choose from, this year’s FilmOut LGBT Festival is bound to pack the North Park Theatre.
For his ninth year with the festival, programmer Michael McQuiggan has once again filled the annual weeklong event with a wide array of narrative features, documentaries and foreign films that touch upon numerous genres and issues.
This year’s opening night presentation is “The Big Gay Musical,” and while I did not have a chance to see it ahead of time here are three movies destined to be crowd pleasers.

Jason Bushman’s “Hollywood Je T’aime” may have cribbed its title from “Paris, Je T’aime” and “New York, Je T’aime,” but it’s anything but another omnibus movie. Still smarting from a romantic breakup up, gay Parisian Eric Debets decides to buy a roundtrip ticket to America and try his luck with acting and romance, Hollywood style. The film is surprisingly charming with Debets acting as the glue that holds it all together. Unlike some of the other features I looked at, “Hollywood Je T’aime” is a cut above thanks to Alison Kelly’s sparkling cinematography and Phil Bartell’s crackerjack editing.
And if you think Debets bears more than a passing resemblance to Academy Award winner Adrian Brody, you are not alone. The filmmakers slip in a knowing reference that’s bound to get a big laugh when it screens on April 18 at 8 p.m.
Evgeny Afineevsky’s “Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!” is a safe distance from Albert Brooks. Hell, it’s a safe distance from Neil Simon for that matter, but the film gets by largely on the charm of its cast. Lainie Kazan has gone from a sultry spread in Playboy to a career on stage and film that now finds her playing Yiddish mamas that would have made Gertrude Berg proud. Along with hubby Saul Rubinek, Kazan is doing her best to find her son a nice girl, but as the title indicates her gay baby boy ain’t interested. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the film is Carmen Electra. As the shikse centerfold Mom and Pop pray will be their daughter-in-law, Electra gives a funny and very natural performance. You’ll probably spend just as much time laughing at the film as with it, but I think with the title such as it is, that’s to be expected.
Wendy Jo Carlton’s “Hannah Free” is an unashamed tearjerker that benefits from Claudia Allen’s heartfelt script and a superb performance by “Cagney and Lacey” alum Sharon Gless. Hannah (Gless) and her lifelong companion Rachel (Ann Hagemann) grew up together in the same small Midwest town. Hannah grew to be a strong character who refuses to make excuses to polite society while Rachel became a strong, less vocal homemaker. The film, based on Allen’s stage play, intercuts between time frames to reveal how the characters maintained their love for each other in spite of all the odds against them.
April 16-22
Birch North Park Theatre
2891 University Ave.
North Park
$150 for Festival FilmPass; $25.00 Opening Night; $10 for individual admission (Courtesy of Filmoutsandiego.com)

Grunion Run @ Birch Aquarium 4/16/2010 Event Location: Birch Aquarium Event Dates(s): 4/16/2010 – 4/16/2010 Event Time(s): 9:30PM – 11:30PM Cost: $10 Members $12 Public Phone Number:858-534-7336 Website/Tickets: (Click Here!)

April 16: 9:30-11:30 p.m.
May 14: 9:30-11:30 p.m.
May 28: 9-11 p.m.
May 29: 9:30-11:30 p.m.

Members: $10, Public $12
RSVP Required
Register Online!

Be part of the adventure as you observe up to a hundred or more silvery fish coming ashore to spawn. Birch Aquarium educators/naturalists get things started with a presentation on grunion and their unique behavior during spawning season. The fun continues with the hatching of grunion eggs and a stroll on the beach to look for these infamous fish. Weather permitting.

On certain spring nights, hundreds of small silvery fish called grunion ride the waves onto the sandy shores of Southern California and Northern Baja California to spawn. Join Birch Aquarium at Scripps to witness this unusual mating ritual as naturalists guide you through an unforgettable night of activities, including the hatching of grunion eggs.

Please keep in mind, La Jolla Coastal Reserve is a no-take area, meaning there is no fishing allowed. During the grunion run, we only observe the fish, we do not collect them.

Come prepared for cool, wet conditions. Don\’t forget your flashlight! Ages 6-13 must be accompanied by a paid adult.

RSVP Required: 858-534-7336 (Courtesy of Aquarium.ucsd.edu)

Freeze Project San Diego @ Fashion Valley Mall 4/17/2010 Event Location: Fashion Valley Event Dates(s): 4/17/2010 – 4/17/2010 Event Time(s): 1:00PM – 2:00PM Cost: Free Phone Number:none Website/Tickets: (Click Here!)

Here is a fun and completely non-intrusive way to help raise awareness about sex trafficking and hopefully, in the process, moving people to go home and learn more and ultimately joining the modern day abolitionist movement. I hope you\’ll join us!

The Basic Concept:

For our Freeze Project moment, we would like to draw a couple of hundred people to participate in drawing attention to the problem of sex trafficking and child sexual exploitation. Instead of protesting, we would like to create an experience that is fun, non-intrusive (in your face activism), and inclusive. We believe that we could use “the Freeze” to draw attention in a crowd, which will then be followed up with a brief handout to people with basic facts and information about how they can learn more.

How a Freeze Project Moment Looks:

* Participants show up a designated time and place to assemble and get ready to head to the \”Freeze\” space.

* Participants will then proceed to the “Freeze” space and blend themselves into a crowd as if they were regulars in that particular environments.

* A cue will be given by the director of the Freeze moment.

* Participants will then stop what they were doing and stay frozen for the next 5 minutes until they receive another cue telling them that the freeze is over.

* Following the freeze, participants will handout a couple of print material each to people observing them (with or without conversation). We\’re going to have some very cool, creative handouts for people that hopefully will really grab their attention.

* That’s it! Enjoy the rest of the day at the venue where the Freeze takes place…..shop, eat, whatever!

Okay, the details in brief:

12:30 – 1:00 – Pre-Freeze meet-up near the downstairs mall entrance to Bloomingdales. Look for the hot pink signs. Be sure to sign in with your name and e-mail address if you\’d like to receive photos from the event, and any (hopefully!) press coverage.

1:00 – 1:15 – Participants move from meet-up spot to the Freeze location (The Freeze will take place in the Food Court, upstairs from the meet-up spot, just past Saks)

1:15 – 1:20 – FREEZE! That\’s all, just five minutes. Can you do it??!!

1:20 – 1:30 – Hand out print materials to folks, chat them up if you like.

After that, you\’re free to go!

I will be so, so grateful if you choose to participate, AND spread the word. The more frozen folks we have the greater impact we\’ll make! I think it will be really fun, and it\’s for a great cause. Once you know just the littlest bit about what happens to some girls at the hands of traffickers (yes, even right here in the United States, in California, in San Diego……), I don\’t know who could possibly NOT want to do at least some small thing about it.
(Courtesy of Facebook.com/)

EarthFair 2010 @ Balboa Park 4/18/2010 Event Location: Balboa Park Event Dates(s): 4/18/2010 – 4/18/2010 Event Time(s): 10:00AM – 5:00PM Cost: Free Phone Number:(858) 272-7370 Website/Tickets: (Click Here!)

Our exhibitors form the heart of EarthFair. They represent every type of environmental organization, governmental program and commercial enterprise with goods, services and causes that address our environment and quality of life. Our exhibitor fees are graduated to allow everyone to participate, from the smallest organization to the largest corporation.

It\’s impossible to list everything you\’ll find at EarthFair: traditional conservation organizations, wildlife preservation groups, products made from natural and organically grown crops, organic gardening information, alternative energy vehicles, ecotourism opportunities, many alternative and traditional health care products and services, pet adoption services, clean air and clean water products, rainforest preservation groups … the list goes on and on.

If your organization, club, or company is interested in exhibiting at EarthFair, please click here.

Special for Kids

In our Childrens’ Activity Area you’ll find crafts, games, face painting, storytelling, and a hands-on activities for children of all ages. Activities are intended to educate, entertain and inspire youth, in the spirit of Earth Day. This year, participants will learn to make paper, find out about recycling, make gift cards from recycled materials, and learn how to visit wild areas without disturbing the environment. Our Children’s Stage features youth-oriented performances throughout the day.

Entertainment

EarthFair will feature three stages. We’ve already mentioned the Children’s Stage, featuring music, song and storytelling aimed at the younger set. The Moon Stage (at Park and Presidents Way) will feature a variety of contemporary music by local artists. The Folk Music Stage (by the U.N. building), hosted by the San Diego Folk Music Heritage Society, will feature some of our city’s finest folk music artists.

eHome

Our eHome exhibit area showcases products and technologies that can make your home more environmentally sustainable. If you\’re building a new structure, or adding to an existing home, alternative home-building technologies, such as straw bale and steel-frame construction, will be of interest. Find out about energy- and resource-saving products and materials, like energy-efficient appliances and low-E windows. A wide variety of solar electric systems – available now, to help you get off the grid – will be shown.

eARTh Gallery

The eARTh Gallery features works by artists using recycled materials or showing depictions of \”Endangered Spaces\” in San Diego County. The artwork will be presented next to the Children\’s Area in the Pan American Plaza (close to the Auto Museum).

Are you an artist with earth-friendly art you\’d like to display? Click here for more information about exhibiting in the eARTh Gallery.

Food Pavilion

Tired of the nitrate-filled hot dogs and sugar-loaded sodas you usually get at large public events? Then step right up to our Food Pavilion for a change of pace. You\’ll find out-of-the-ordinary vegetarian fare that will make you wish it was available in the park all year long. If you are interested in being a food vendor at EarthFair, click here for more information.

Children\’s Earth Parade

The Children\’s Earth Parade (All Species Welcome) starts at 10:30 am by the Spanish Village and marches through the Park to the Children\’s Area in the Pan American Plaza. Participants are invited to dress up as endangered species, present their favorite earth-friendly messages. To find out more about the Children\’s EarthParade, including how you can participate, please click here.

Cleaner Car Concourse

The Cleaner Car Concourse features vehicles of all descriptions that all run on alternative fuels (hybrids included). This isn\’t just “the future”: these are vehicles being used on the road today. The vehicles will be on display in the Pan American Plaza.

Do you have a vehicle that belongs in the show? Click here for more information, and to register on-line.

Stuff to Buy

You\’ll see lots of stuff to buy at EarthFair. As in previous years, non-profit organizations are free to sell goods and services to support their operations. In fact, for many of the smaller non-profits, EarthFair can be a significant source of funding for their activities. So, if you want to get some holiday gifts real early, you can make sure your money will be going to a cause you want to support.

We will also allow for-profit organizations to sell environmentally-beneficial goods and services.

Getting There

Sixty- to seventy-thousand people can create real transportation problems. If you arrive after about 10:30 am, there is often no CAR parking close to the Park.

Not to worry, though. Click here for some alternatives to keep you from being stuck behind traffic on Park Blvd. trying to get into the park to find non-existant parking spaces.

How Would You Like to Participate?

There are several ways for you to take part in EarthFair:

As a visitor. Just show up … it\’s all free. But, arrive early so you don\’t miss the Earth Parade, and so you have enough time — there\’s a lot to see and do.

As an exhibitor. Does your company, organization, club, or school have a product, service or cause that would be appropriate for the EarthFair? Click here for more information.

As a volunteer. Each year, about 400 individuals just like you come out to make the EarthFair happen. Whether you\’d like to help out for a few hours, take on a major accountability, or something in between, we have the job for you. Come help put on a party for 60,000 of our closest friends. See our Volunteer Page for more information.

As a sponsor. Our exhibitor fees only cover a part of the expenses of producing EarthFair. With recent dramatic increases in fees for city services, it would not be possible to continue producing the event without the generous support of our sponsors. Sponsorship levels are available from $500 to $50,000, and will provide excellent exposure for your company or organization. For more information, please call (858) 272-7370, or click here. (Courtesy of http://www.earthdayweb.org)