North County and San Diego events in October bring lots of fall fun! We’ve got terrific Halloween activities for both kids and adults. Plus there are fun festivals, shows, outdoor events and great food. That’s not all. Keep reading to find the best North County and San Diego events in October!
Continue reading North County and San Diego Events October 2019
Annual Spring Home/Garden Show
March 1 – 3
Location: Del Mar, Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd
Now in its 34th year, the Spring Home/Garden Show returns to Del Mar Fairgrounds for a three-day extravaganza. There’s inspiring real "Garden Masters" landscapes, hands-on demonstrations, hundreds of home-improvement products and services exhibitors, educational seminars, plant sales, and face-to-face consultations with top experts. Plus you get easy, one-stop shopping for everything pertaining to home and garden, inside and outside.
The show focuses on San Diego-area experts, services, products, and businesses. Visitors find everything they need to save time and money improving, refreshing, or remodeling their home and outdoor surroundings. You’ll find the latest in appliances, garden lighting, fencing, security systems, baths and sunrooms. Tickets purchased online are $5. Regular admission is $8.
Artist-in-Residence Courtney Mattison
January 26 – March 23
Location: Encinitas, Lux Art Institute, 1550 S El Camino Real
Courtney Mattison’s passion for discovering what lives in the ocean and her fascination with the diverse, colorful, and the sometimes venomous world has led her to the coral reefs. As an artist and activist Mattison is using the power of art to evoke an emotional response to advocate for the oceans.
Mattison creates dazzling and incredibly detailed ceramic coral reef installations that start of with vibrant colors and spirals out to solid white. The haunting beauty of the white corals is a reference to the bleaching of the coral reefs. The white ceramic is a representation of the skeletal remnants left behind by warming oceans.
Please join us for Courtney Mattison’s Reception & Studio Series on February 8th. Experience a unique opportunity, as Artist-in-Residence Courtney Mattison leads an engaging discussion about both her work and artistic process. Guest cost is $10.
Vista Holiday Parade
December 1
1 – 3 PM
Location: Vista, S. Santa Fe and Main Street
Come join us for our 61st Annual Vista Christmas Parade! This year’s theme is Candyland!
The Parade will start at 1:00 pm. The parade route starts at Civic Center parking lot, turns right on Eucalyptus, right on S. Santa Fe, right on Broadway, left on Citrus, left on Main Street and ends at the Wave Waterpark.
Parking can be found at Cinepolis, the Wave, side streets and parking lots. No parking will be available at the civic center, the library or along the downtown parade route.
Día de los Muertos
November 1
5 PM
Location: Escondido, 340 N. Escondido Blvd.
Come and celebrate el Día de los Muertos with art, ballet folklórico and more! This year we celebrate our 23rd annual Festival, and it is going to be better than ever. As always, attendees will be able to create altars to remember lost loved ones in a special area created by artist Eloy Tarcisio. For the children, we will have face painting, arts and crafts, and more. Food and handmade goods will be available for purchase.
This year we will also be starting out the festivities with a parade led by artist Luis Ituarte. The parade will begin at 5pm, circle Grape Day Park, and end at a special ofrenda created in the Center’s Museum.
The two following days will also be filled of events for you to celebrate. Friday, November 2, join us for Cultura Fest SD Noche de Muertos where you can watch Pixar’s Coco and enjoy vendors and live music. Saturday, November 3, join us for the finale of our Levitt AMP Escondido Music Series. It will feature Las Cafeteras and Dueto Dos Rosas.
The Scream Zone
September 28 – October 31
Location: Del Mar, Del Mar Fairgrounds
Welcome to Your Nightmare!
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!
The 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 24 selected nights beginning September 28 and continues through October 31. Parking at The Scream Zone is free.
Your Triple Haunt favorites are back: the horrifying House of Horror, the dizzying KarnEvil, and the Haunted Hayride, each casting its evil spell on the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
Scaredy Cats are welcome to enter The Scream Zone compound at no charge if you want to wait for your children or hang with your friends but are too scared to enter the haunts. There are lots of things for you to do and see, including great food vendors, photo opportunities and our Spirit Lounge bar.
The Flower Fields
March 1 – May 13
Location: Carlsbad, 5704 Paseo del Norte
For over sixty years, Mother Nature has transformed the rolling hills of north San Diego County into one of the most spectacular and coordinated displays of natural color and beauty anywhere in the world. The nearly fifty acres of Giant Tecolote Ranunculus flowers that make up The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch® in Carlsbad, California, are in bloom for approximately six to eight weeks each year – from early March through early May – literally bringing the famous fields back to life. This annual burst of color, which has become part of the area’s local heritage, also is one of nature’s official ways of announcing the arrival of spring here in southern California.
Easter Sunrise Service on Sunday, April 1 at 6:30 am.
The Flower Fields are an alcohol and tobacco free environment. Smoking and alcoholic beverages are not permitted onsite. No Bicycles, hoverboards or drones are permitted.
The Flower Fields
March 1 – May 13
Location: Carlsbad, 5704 Paseo del Norte
For over sixty years, Mother Nature has transformed the rolling hills of north San Diego County into one of the most spectacular and coordinated displays of natural color and beauty anywhere in the world. The nearly fifty acres of Giant Tecolote Ranunculus flowers that make up The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch® in Carlsbad, California, are in bloom for approximately six to eight weeks each year – from early March through early May – literally bringing the famous fields back to life. This annual burst of color, which has become part of the area’s local heritage, also is one of nature’s official ways of announcing the arrival of spring here in southern California.
The Flower Fields are an alcohol and tobacco free environment. Smoking and alcoholic beverages are not permitted onsite. No Bicycles, hoverboards or drones are permitted.
Museum Month: Half-Off Admission
February 1 – 28
Location: Multiple Locations
Arts, entertainment and culture collide for Macy’s Museum Month in San Diego. This February the San Diego Museum Council and Macy’s have teamed up again for Museum Month, giving patrons a chance to discover what’s new at 45 area museums with savings only seen once a year.
Participants can pick up a Museum Month Pass at any area Macy’s store to enjoy half-off admission to all of the participating museums through the entire month of February. Passes will be available beginning February 1 at all San Diego, Temecula and Imperial Valley Macy’s.
Día de los Muertos
November 1
6 PM
Location: Escondido, 340 N. Escondido Blvd.
Come and celebrate el Día de los Muertos with art, ballet folklórico and more! This year the California Center for the Arts, Escondido celebrates our 22nd annual Festival. It is going to be better than ever. As always, attendees will be able to create altars to remember lost loved ones in a special area created by artist Eloy Tarcisio. For the children, we will have face painting, arts and crafts, and more. Food and handmade goods will be available for purchase.
This year’s festival includes a live performance in the Concert Hall by Selena Tribute Band Como la Flor. Don’t forget to stop by an altar to Selena created by artist Daniel Martinez that will be on display at the Center until November 17, 2017. Participate in our Selena Singing Contest!
We also have events from November 2 through 4 for you to celebrate. On November 2, paint a master copy of Diego Rivera’s The Flower Seller. Then on November 3, celebrate the 20th anniversary of the iconic film Selena. Finally, on November 4, experience the history of Mexico on stage with Folklor.
The festival begins at 6:00 pm and is free and open to the public. Altar space will not be available until 6:00 pm, but early arrival is strongly recommended. Guests will not need a ticket to enjoy the festival.