San Diego Weekend Guide: April 19-21 – Earth Day Edition

Get outdoors this San Diego weekend! Celebrate Mother Earth, classic cars, flowers, landmark community art and more throughout the county.

Here are three Balboa Park options for Earth Day, plus a bonus event in a community garden:

• Spreckels Organ Society, 7 p.m. Friday, Earth Day concert at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in the center of the park featuring classic rock hits.
• Project New Village and the Mt. Hope Community Garden, 9 a.m. Saturday, with workshops, garden work, community resources and environmental justice activities, along with food and drink, at 4261 Market St.
• EarthFest at Balboa Park, 11 a.m. Sunday, at the Park Boulevard and Presidents Way Lawn, presented by Vegan Food Popup, with over 100 sustainable food, product and service vendors, along with stages for live entertainment.
• WorldBeat Cultural Center, the 32nd annual Multi-Cultural Earth Day, 11 a.m. Sunday, with speakers, music, Earth-friendly vendors and activities.

Local fests celebrate the community too, in all parts of the county:

• The 54th Chicano Park Day – marking the anniversary of the 1970 protests that led to establishing the park and the creation of its historic murals – starts at 9 a.m. Saturday with music, food, Aztec Indigenous dance, a lowrider exhibition, children’s art workshops and crafts.
• The 39th annual Encinitas Spring Street Fair opens at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday with vendors and music by Half Hour Late and Daring Greatly. Stroll Coast Highway 101 between J and E streets.
• Fort Cross Old Timey Adventures is home to 5 acres of lilacs in Santa Ysabel. Glory in the sights and scents for the ninth annual Lilac Festival, beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday and continuing on weekends through Mother’s Day, May 12. For $10 admission, enjoy a variety of throwback activities too, from tomahawk tosses to jug band shows.
• The Chula Vista Community Collaborative hosts Day of the Child, a free event with more than 100 booths, games, prizes and a classic car show. There’s face painting, puppets and magic shows for the kids. Head to Memorial Park at 10 a.m. Saturday.

The 18th annual La Jolla Concours d’Elegance offers a weekend of activities and VIP parties inspired by luxury automobiles from the Roaring ’20s and ’30s, including Bugatti, Duesenberg, Packard, Bentley, Rolls Royce. Events include the free Porsches on Prospect, at 5 p.m. Saturday. For the main event, at 9 a.m. Sunday, admission starts at $105.

The San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus will “Freak Out” at the Balboa Theatre at 7 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. The show, billed as a “Disco Extravagaaanza,” will include “glitter, roller skates and so many Dancing Queens!” Tickets start at $26.50.

The Spring Sake Festival begins at noon Sunday at the Japanese Friendship Garden. The Balboa Par festival will have limited samplings of “nama,” a raw, unpasteurized sake available only in the spring. Tickets cost $80.