North County and San Diego County bring us scary Halloween events, the Miramar air show, sporting events and lots of fun festivals this month.
MCAS Miramar Air Show
October 2 – 4
Location: Marine Corps Air Station Miramar
Welcome to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, home of the 3d Marine Aircraft Wing, and the largest military air show in the nation.
The theme for the 2015 MCAS Miramar Air Show, which runs October 2-4 2015, is “A Salute to Veterans and Their Families.” We take great pride in the men and women who fight our country’s battles and the families who support them. A significant number of those veterans and their families are stationed right here on MCAS Miramar or live in and around San Diego. Whether at home or deployed, their mission remains the same: protect our nation and those we love. Our service members, past and present, have continuously answered the call to serve. They selflessly do it for America, our values, and our way of life, often at the cost of leaving their family members behind. While this year’s air show is a salute to all veterans and their families, we want to convey a special, heartfelt thank you to our wounded warriors, military families, and veterans of past conflicts.
We are pleased to welcome back the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and the Patriots Jet Team for what are sure to be thrilling performances of fast-paced formation flying and choreographed aerobatic maneuvers. This year, we are also thrilled to welcome the Breitling Jet Team for their first U.S. tour. Additionally, MCAS Miramar is honored to host an amazing lineup of civilian performers including Sean Tucker’s “Oracle Challenger,” John Collver’s “Wardog,” Chuck Aaron’s Red Bull Helicopter, and the Shockwave Jet Truck.
Guests will have the opportunity to enjoy exciting performances from military parachute teams and aerial demonstrations by the F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, the AV-8B Harrier, the MV-22B Osprey, the U.S. Army Golden Knights, the U.S. Navy Leap Frogs, and an intense Marine Air Ground Task Force demonstration. The MCAS Miramar flight line will also feature static displays, including past and present aircraft and ground combat equipment, air show memorabilia, and plenty of vendors and activities for families to enjoy.
Please take time to talk to the Marines, Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen, and Coast Guardsmen who will be here to support the show. Many of the young men and women you will meet have deployed numerous times. Take a moment to thank these men and women who give so much to preserve the freedoms we enjoy every day. They are true American heroes.
MCAS Miramar has a long, rich history with the citizens of San Diego. We value this relationship and consider it an honor to serve and protect the citizens of the United States. On behalf of MCAS Miramar’s Marines and Sailors, we would like to thank San Diego for its unprecedented support of our young men and women in uniform. The air show is our way of thanking you for all you do for us. We are honored to share this incredible experience with you and truly hope you enjoy the 2015 MCAS Miramar Air Show.
The Scream Zone
October 2 – November 1
Location: Del Mar, Del Mar Fairgrounds
Welcome to Your Nightmare!
The 2015 Scream Zone is assembled from a collection of body parts, and roughly stitched together into four terrifying haunts and other monstrous attractions. This year the Scream Zone runs 25 selected days beginning September 25 and 26, and again on October 2-4, 8-11, 15-18, 21-31, and November 1.
Once again you have your chance to save the planet from the coming zombie apocalypse by putting down the walking dead: play Paintball Apocalypse and take out the clowns! Where are the clowns? Quick, send in the clowns. Don’t bother, they’re here! A year-to-year favorite is the horrifying House of Horror, along with our newest attraction known as KarnEvil, and the Haunted Hayride, each casting its evil spell on the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
Other features this year include: The Dusk Till Dawn Bar, The Walking Dead Prison, and The Exorcist. We must warn you as well to keep a sharp eye out for Pennywise the Clown.
San Diego County’s largest haunted experience, the Scream Zone is considered among the goriest, scariest, and screaming-est fright fests to be found in the dark corners of Southern California. We invite you to be our guests, that is, if you have the nerve! Buy tickets now.
Attention parents: You are welcome to enter The Scream Zone compound to wait for children. Our parent lounge is free and there are lots of things for you to do and see, including great food vendors and adult beverages. So come on down and enjoy The Scream Zone alone or as a family!
Rise of the Jack O’ Lanterns
October 2 – 25
Location: Escondido, San Diego Zoo, Safari Park
Lighting up the night this October at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park is the most unique and iconic family friendly fall event, RISE of the Jack O’Lanterns! Come see more than 5,000 hand-carved illuminated jack o’lanterns created by professional artists and sculptors arranged in creative ways along a 1/3-mile scenic walking trail all set to an original music score produced exclusively for The RISE! The variety of new and exciting themes created for 2015 is sure to impress both RISE newbies and returning RISE fans.
You’ll go on safari and see larger-than-life animals carved from dozens of jack o’lanterns. Just watch out for our dragon that’s over 50 feet long and contains hundreds of jacks carved by a team of artists! You’ll visit the auto show and see some of your favorite classic cars re-imagined in a gourd-geous new way. You’ll also see our talented artists hand-paint and hand-carve the images of some of your favorite TV and movie stars into giant 100 pound pumpkins at our live carving station! Our well lit parking lots and trail make The RISE experience safe and exciting for visitors of all ages.
RISE of the Jack O’Lanterns will run on Friday through Sunday nights from October 2 through October 25. Advance ticket purchase required.
Walk to End Alzheimer’s
October 3
4:00 – 6:00 PM
Location: Oceanside, Junior Seau Pier Amphitheater
The Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s® is the world’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support and research. Held annually in more than 600 communities nationwide, this inspiring event calls on participants of all ages and abilities to reclaim the future for millions. Together, we can end Alzheimer’s disease, the nation’s sixth-leading cause of death. This event includes an approximately 2 mile walk, entertainment, information and vendor booths. Sponsored by Alzheimer’s Association – San Diego/Imperial Chapter.
Walk to End Alzheimer’s unites the entire community — more than 450,000 participants that include family, friends, co-workers, social and religious groups and more in a display of combined strength and dedication in the fight against this devastating disease. While there is no fee to register, each participant is expected to fundraise in order to contribute to the cause and raise awareness. The Alzheimer’s Association provides free, easy-to-use tools and staff support to help each participant reach their fundraising goal.
Vista Community Yard Sale
October 3
8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Location: Vista, Gloria McClellan Center, 1400 Vale Terrace Dr.
Spaces available in the upper and lower Gloria McClellan Center parking lots. Spaces are $15 each and benefit your senior center. You keep your profits.
The center will provide advertising and event promotion. To reserve your spot, see Maia in the administration office or call (760) 639-6162.
Super Hero Obstacle Run
October 3
8:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Location: Carlsbad, Alga Norte Community Park, 6565 Alicante Rd.
Dress up like a super hero and come out to the park for the Super Hero Obstacle Race, on Saturday, Oct. 3 from 8 a.m. to noon at Alga Norte Community Park, 6565 Alicante Road. Parents and children ages 5 and over will run together through a super hero themed 2K obstacle course while dressed in super hero costumes.
Defeat villains while leaping over tall buildings, crawling through toxic tunnels and navigating through 20 obstacles throughout the park. Conquer inflatable mazes and slides, wrecking balls, tights ropes, web crawlers and other obstacles along the way. The race will take approximately one hour to complete.
Siblings, caregivers, grandparents and friends can also participate in lieu of parents and each participant must register. Cost is $30 per participant. Food and beverages will be available for purchase.
San Diego Botanic Garden Orchid Clinic
October 3
Location: Encinitas, San Diego Botanic Garden
Participants choose one or all of the four great education sessions. Each session
is presented by local expert orchid growers who will impart valuable, easy to use
information on how to select, grow and care for orchids. Local orchid vendors will
be on hand selling orchids and available to answer questions. There is also an orchid sale open to the public.
10 am: Dave Hoffmaster, San Diego County Orchid Society “How to Grow, Maintain and Re-bloom your Phalaenopsis Orchid”
11 am: Walt Meier, San Diego County Cymbidium Society “Growing and Blooming Cymbidium Orchids”
1 pm: Alex Nadzan, Palomar Orchid Society “Growing Cattleya Orchids Outdoors in Southern California”
2 pm: Nico Goosens, Lico Orchids and Flowers, “How to Re-bloom Your Orchid”
Cost: Free with paid admission or Garden membership. Free for American Orchid Society Members and Southern California Society Members (must show card at Welcome Center)
Carlsbad Oktoberfest
October 3
Location: Carlsbad, Holiday Park, Chestnut St. and Pio Pico
Be a part of this Carlsbad premier tradition with several hundred of your closest friends, family and neighbors for a day of great food, awesome music, and festive fun. DJ Efraim Nunez will kick off the day’s entertainment by spinning your favorite tunes followed by live bands starting with local favorites Faith Page, Bluebirds, and ending with The Last Call.
Fill your day with the famed Chicken dance performances, a delicious German meal, pretzels, and ice cold beers! There will also be entertainment and fun activities for kids of all ages, including a pumpkin patch where children can decorate pumpkins, jumpy houses, and a few fun surprises.
Children will enjoy the Oktoberfest pumpkin patch and pumpkin decorating contest, inflatable jumpers, face painting, antique fire truck and much much more!
$12 in advance and $15 at the door includes your admission and meal. FREE Shuttle Bus Service from Westfield’s Plaza El Camino Real (SW Corner) parking lot. Local parking is very limited – shuttle buses pick-up and drop-off at 20 minute intervals. First shuttle departs Westfield at 11:30 AM and last shuttle leaves Holiday Park at 10:30 PM.
Tour de Camp Pendleton
October 3
Location: Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
It’s an opportunity to ride on Camp Pendleton from the Northernmost point down Basilone to the air station, around through Stuart Mesa Road and Las Pulgas. While on your ride enjoy all the scenery Camp Pendleton has to offer; from rolling hills to wildlife, aircraft to barracks.
Who:
Marines and Civilians Ages 6 and Up
What:
100, 75, 50, and 25 mile road bike ride, 6 mile family fun ride, plus the Mateo Mountain Challenge
LEGOLAND Brick-or-Treat Party Nights
October 3 – 30
Location: Carlsbad, LEGOLAND,
Awesome Awaits at the Park…after dark during Brick-Or-Treat Party Nights! Brick or Treat Party Nights presented by Shutterfly starts at 5pm on October 3, 10, 17, 24, and 30. The home of Halloween fun is filled with music, candy, surprises and snacks! Highlights include:
- Expanded Brick-or-Treat Trail, including 2 stations in SEA LIFE Aquarium
- Coast Cruise transformation into the Ghost Cruise
- Hubble Bubble’s Dance Party
- Wanda’s Jelly Fish Disco in SEA LIFE Aquarium
- Costume Contests with categories of LEGO, Creative, and a NEW Group category that you can enter with family or friends
- More Halloween adventures at Heartlake City and Fun Town!
Separate event tickets are required for Brick-or-Treat Party Nights. Event admission is not included in membership benefits for Standard LEGOLAND Pass Members (LEGOLAND California Standard Pass and Merlin Annual Pass Standard). A discounted member price of $15 will be available at the time of the event. See www.myLEGOLAND.com for details closer to the event.
Sukkot Harvest Festival
October 4
Location: Encinitas, 450 Quail Gardens Dr.
Sukkot Harvest Festival with food, music, art, performance, farm and sukkah.
- 12-2pm – Hazon Jewish Food Festival with chef demos, pickling, DIY stations, homebrewing, kids activities, and more!
- 2:30-3:30pm – ASSEMBLE: modern spin | ancient celebration, a world premiere performance inspired by ancient harvest ritual Hakhel. Conceived by Center for Jewish Culture and Leichtag Foundation. Created by theatre dybbuk (LA).
- 3:30pm-4:30pm – music by Yonatan Gat, Israeli master guitarist and improviser seamlessly explores different styles, from Middle Eastern surf to Brazilian psych to Afrobeat, “weaving styles together like the great jazz musicians of the 60’s,” with visceral punk energy.
Viva Vivaldi! | SoundWAVE @ OMA
October 6
7:00 – 8:30 PM
Location: Oceanside, Oceanside Museum of Art, 704 Pier View Way
Music by Antonio Vivaldi with flute, oboe, bassoon, violins, viola, cello, double bass, harpsichord
Join Camarada for our opening concert at the Oceanside Museum of Art with Viva Vivaldi! This ornate program weaves together a dynamic selection of Antonio Vivaldi Concertos. The virtuosity of the double bass and the bassoon will dazzle you while showcasing the musical genius of Vivaldi. Vivaldi’s La Notte (The Nightmare) takes the listener off-the-beaten Baroque path while his Chamber Concerto in D Major showcases virtuosic passages of the well-loved violin solos – a true trademark of Vivaldi. Escape the ordinary to celebrate the inspiring and transformative power of arts with Camarada in the urban atmosphere of Oceanside Museum of Art– Southern California’s premier regional art museum.
Bike the Coast – Taste the Coast
October 10
Location: Oceanside, Oceanside Pier
Join us for the 6th Annual Bike the Coast – Taste the Coast on October 10, 2015! Pick one of 5 awesome courses of 7, 15, 25, 50 and 100 miles, or grab a jersey combo and join 2500 cyclists on Saturday October 10 for a fantastic experience on the beautiful California coast and the amazing venue of the Oceanside Pier.
The Beer Garden and Expo are open to the public. We will also have giveaways for registered riders, and will be raffling Jerseys, clothing, bikes, sponsor gear, prizes and more.
Re-membering Our Ancestors Discovering Ourselves
October 10 – November 22
Location: Escondido, California Center for the Arts
Día de los Muertos announces itself with luxuriant images and unforgettable icons. Local, regional, traditional and non-traditional artists share the exuberance of the holiday while contemplating how memory can reintegrate lost members of families and communities.
One of USA’s newest holidays, Día de los Muertos announces itself everywhere from elementary school classrooms to Pasadena’s Tournament of Roses Parade. The exhibition will feature Latina, Latino, and other artists sharing their reckonings of Día’s outward forms and deeper meanings. The show will also share the value of family resiliency as expressed by cultural traditions around the world that celebrate those who have gone before us and who we keep alive through ritual and memory. Curated by David Avalos, Artist and Professor of Visual Arts at California State University San Marcos.
The museum is open Thursday through Sunday. General admission is $8. Students and seniors are $5. Center members, military and children 12 and under are free.
ISA World Junior Surfing Championship
October 11 – 18
Location: Oceanside, Oceanside Pier, South Side
The VISSLA ISA World Junior Surfing Championship (WJSC) showcases the best young surfers from around the world. The World Championship crowns individual Gold Medalists in four divisions: Under-18 Boys, Under-16 Boys, Under-18 Girls, Under-16 Girls, and an overall Team Champion.
Parade of Nations and opening ceremony are on October 11. Competition begins October 12. Finals and closing ceremony are on October 18.
32nd Annual Fall Plant Sale
October 17 – 18
Location: Encinitas, San Diego Botanic Garden
Plant donations from over 100 local growers, wholesalers, retail nurseries, and individuals make this one of the most interesting and diverse plant sales in San Diego County. Plant selections include California natives, cacti, succulents, bromeliads, fruit trees, and sub-tropicals. Visit our Botanic Attic for garden-related items. Be sure to check out our huge selection of used books and homemade goodies such as specialty jellies. Enjoy an opportunity drawing and the popular sit-down Bakery Shoppe, which serves cakes, cookies, pies, and coffee.
Free with paid admission or membership.
Pumpkin Plunge
October 17
5:00 – 9:00 PM
Location: Carlsbad, 6565 Alicante Rd.
Enjoy Halloween themed pool activities and games during the City of Carlsbad’s Pumpkin Plunge at Alga Norte Aquatic Center at 6565 Alicante Road on Saturday, Oct. 17 from 5 to 9 p.m.
The swimming pool will be transformed into a floating pumpkin patch where participants can catch a pumpkin with a hula hoop. Every child will receive a pumpkin to take home to decorate. Come dressed in a swim suit and enjoy other fun and spooky activities including diving for treasures, collecting bones, catching mutant fish and more. As the sun goes down, finish the night off with a special presentation of the movie, Hocus Pocus, on the giant outdoor movie screen.
“This event is fun for everyone,” says Rachael Shay, special events director for the City of Carlsbad. “It combines two great things; Halloween and swimming, and with the heated pool it is a perfect event to hold here in Southern California in October.”
Cost is $10 per person. Children ages 3 and under are free. Food and beverages will be available for purchase.
Haunted Aquarium: Shipwrecked Science!
October 23 – 24
6:00 – 9:00 PM
Location: La Jolla, Birch Aquarium
Enjoy close encounters with Scripps Institution of Oceanography scientists and search the galleries for unusual underwater creatures rarely seen at Birch Aquarium. Discover a sea of glowing beasts(big and small), get sticky with slime,and enjoy shipwrecked stories, all while BOO-gieing down to live music and having a monstrous good time. Recommended for ages 2+.
Día de los Muertos Event
October 25
Location: Oceanside, 4050 Mission Ave.
The Day of the Dead is a festive and multicultural event hosted by Mission San Luis Rey for the entire family, featuring traditional altars and ofrendas, vendors, artisans, dancers, musicians and a special classic car show with trunk altar displays put on by the Por Siempre Car Club. It runs from 10am – 5pm. Free admission, parking $5 per car and free shuttle buses available.
Safe Trick or Treat
October 31
5:00 – 8:00 PM
Location: Encinitas, S. Coast Hwy. and Encinitas Blvd.
On Halloween each year from 5-8pm, a stretch of South Coast Hwy 101, from Encinitas Blvd. to K Street, becomes “Pumpkin Lane,” decorated with elaborately carved pumpkins at different viewing locations. Downtown merchants hand out treats to thousands of costumed kids and Her Royal Highness grants wishes at the Queen’s Court next to the Self-Realization Fellowship Bookstore.
Our 14th Annual Safe Trick-or-Treat is sponsored by Scripps Health. Visit their booth at The Black Sheep parking lot at J Street.
The 101 Artists’ Colony hosts a kids zone in The Lumberyard Courtyard, where children can enjoy Halloween-themed games and activities, as well as live music by Bucket Ruckus.
The Self-Realization Fellowship grow and harvest the pumpkins on the hill above Vulcan, south of Santa Fe Drive. The monks of SRF carve them for the enjoyment of the community each year.