As the holiday season swings into full gear, we will be featuring a new blog every week until December 25th that will showcase the various Christmas activities taking place in San Diego near the Ocean Park Inn. This week our featured event is Balboa Park’s December Nights 2010. The holiday season kicks off with a big celebration in Balboa Park with this two-day celebration that brings out the holiday spirit in everyone. San Diego has a ton of positive qualities, but the one thing our climate lacks is seasonal snowfall. Despite the lack of blizzards and snowmen in San Diego, the December Nights celebration brings forth the holiday spirit in all of us.
This long-standing event has been a staple of San Diego’s holiday celebrations for thirty-three years. This year the celebration is running on December 3 from 5-10pm and December 4 from noon to 10 pm. Participating Balboa Park museums will be open free-of-charge from 5-9pm both nights. The December Nights festival features Christmas light displays, theatrical and musical entertainment, and rare foods and spirits scattered throughout the park. The celebration is expected to draw more than 300,000 people over the exciting two days.
Some of the featured events of the December Nights celebration are as follows:
Christmas on the Prado
Christmas on the Prado features food from around the globe at the House of Pacific Relations Cottages, the Santa Lucia procession at the Museum of Man, gift shopping at the museum stores, and musical and dance presentations from the San Diego Junior Theatre, San Diego Civic Youth Ballet, De Cerro Baptist’s Christmas Story Tree and more. This is one exhibit you won’t want to miss.
International Cottage Christmas Festival
The International Cottage Christmas Festival features authentic music, dance and other holiday festivities from over 30 countries. Here you can sample international cuisine, and view traditional holiday dances and music complete with ornate holiday costumes on the Cottage Stage.
Spreckels Organ Pavilion Stage
This is December Nights’ main performance stage, which features music and entertainment from local San Diego groups. Some highlights of this stage are the House of Scotland Pipe Band and the Chorus of Sweet Adelines.
And finally, check out a new addition for this year at the gourmet food truck. Prado owner David Cohen is partnering with executive chef Deborah Scott to debut this amazing food truck. So swing by and grab a local delicacy created by Deborah and enjoy the celebration. We may not have a white Christmas this year, but San Diegan’s don’t have any trouble getting into the Christmas spirit at this amazing event!