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Everything at Del Mar Fairgrounds — including past events

DroneArt Show: Harry Potter™ — Del Mar Fairgrounds

Coming Soon

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8 days away

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DroneArt Show: Harry Potter™ — Del Mar Fairgrounds

In 8 days · Oct 16 Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Du…

You remember the first time the Great Hall ceiling opened up and the candles floated. Not the plot. Not the dialogue. The ceiling. Some images lodge somewhere logic cannot reach and simply stay there for decades, quiet, until something cracks them open again. Twelve hundred drones rise off the fairgrounds and draw that ceiling across the real sky. Not a screen. Not a projection. The actual night, rewritten in light, while a live violinist threads the original score underneath formations that shift from the Sorting Hat to the Whomping Willow to a Patronus wider than the field you are standing on. The band on your wrist pulses in time with all of it, so you are not really watching the show. You are inside it. Two nights only, in October, outdoors. Parents who read the books aloud fifteen years ago will stand beside those kids, now grown, and neither one will say a word for a full minute.

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Del Mar Fair — Opening Weekend

Jun 12, 2026 From $18 Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Du…

The San Diego County Fair opens June 12th at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, and the cheapest ticket starts at $18 — the going rate for the single most SoCal-summer thing you will do this year. Jimmy Durante Boulevard leads you in. The smell of funnel cake and sunscreen meets you before the parking lot ends. Del Mar in June means a particular kind of heat that doesn't apologize — the kind that makes the lemonade taste better and turns a crowd of strangers into people all in it together. You walk past livestock barns and end up at a stage where someone is playing to three hundred people like it's their last show on earth. You eat something fried that has no business existing and don't regret a single thing. The Midway lights come up as the sun drops behind the grandstands and suddenly you're twelve again, which is the best thing the fair does — it gives everyone permission to stop being jaded for one afternoon. The concerts run every night. The rides don't care how old you are. The strawberry shortcake line moves slowly for a reason. Go on a weeknight for room to breathe. Go on a Saturday to feel the full weight of Southern California in summer. That's worth feeling at least once.

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Del Mar Fair — Final Weekend

Jul 5, 2026 From $18 Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Du…

The final weekend of the San Diego County Fair at Del Mar. Last rides on the Ferris wheel, last funnel cake, last walk through the livestock hall you keep meaning to skip but never do. The last-weekend energy is different — it's the city saying goodbye to summer. Don't miss it.

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Del Mar Fair — 4th of July

Jul 4, 2026 From $18 Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Du…

The San Diego County Fair on the Fourth of July is the version of the fair that has its own finale built in. The day starts the same — the midway, the food that makes no nutritional sense and tastes exactly right, the livestock pavilion, the exhibits, the concerts on the main stage, the crowd that spans every demographic in a way that county fairs uniquely manage. And then the sun drops behind the hills and the fireworks start over the fairgrounds and you realize you picked the right night to come. Del Mar is the best fair in the region — bigger than most county fairs, with better food and better concerts, and a setting that mixes classic carnival energy with something that feels specifically Southern Californian. On the Fourth it adds the one thing that makes summer feel like summer: fireworks you can watch while standing on a midway with a corn dog in your hand. Tickets at sdfair.com. Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd, Del Mar. July 4th. Arrive before dark if you want to walk the fair. Stay for what happens after.

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San Diego County Fair

Jun 6 – Jul 4, 2026 Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Du…

You go in swearing you will just walk around, and somehow you are holding something deep-fried on a stick that has no business existing, watching a teenager lead a steer around a ring like it is the most serious thing in the world. It is. That is the part nobody warns you about — the livestock competitions absolutely slap. The Del Mar fair is the same every year and that is the whole point: rides that would hold their own at Belmont Park, a midway that smells like sugar and diesel, and at least one concert you will pretend you did not enjoy. Everyone in this county has a version of this memory and most of them are from childhood. It runs June into the July 4th weekend at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Go early on a weekday unless you enjoy spending 45 minutes hunting a parking spot. Take the person you used to go with. See if the corn dogs hold up.

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FoodieLand Food Festival — San Diego

May 1 – May 3, 2026 Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Du…

Come hungry. That is the only requirement. FoodieLand is the nation's largest food festival — 250+ vendors packed into Del Mar Fairgrounds across three evenings in May, each one running 3 PM to 10 PM. This is not a county fair with funnel cakes and a corn dog stand. It is a full passport stamp: Korean BBQ next to Oaxacan tacos next to Taiwanese shaved ice next to wood-fired Argentine empanadas. Festival-only menu items that vendors do not sell anywhere else. Artisan shops. Live music threading through the crowd. Games. The smell of a dozen cuisines hitting you at the same time and somehow all of it working. They built it for people with dietary needs too — kosher, halal, gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian options spread throughout the grounds, not tucked into a corner. Tickets are $12 in advance on Eventbrite. Children 5 and under get in free. There is no gate sale — buy before you go. Parking is $16 online or $20 at the gate via Del Mar Fairgrounds. Bring cash; not every vendor runs a card reader, and the ATMs on-site will have lines by 5 PM. No re-entry, so pace yourself and stay the full seven hours. You will need them. Follow @foodielandsd for vendor announcements and drop lineups before the weekend.

Oddities & Curiosities Expo — San Diego 2026

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Oddities & Curiosities Expo — San Diego 2026

Jan 10 – Jan 11, 2026 5 Del Mar Fairgrounds, 2260 Jimmy Du…

The same caravan, different city. The Del Mar Fairgrounds, January 10-11, 2026 — two days of taxidermy, antiques, wax sculpture, and the collected strange. The expo is the original touring showcase built for lovers of the dark, the different, and the beautifully bizarre. Vendors travel coast-to-coast with one-of-a-kind pieces: animal skulls and bones, handcrafted oddities, horror clothing, vintage quack medical devices, funeral collectibles, and artwork that doesn't belong anywhere else. The caliber of curation is serious — this isn't a flea market. Live sideshow performers take the stage throughout the day. Hands-on specialty classes run alongside the expo floor, including taxidermy and entomology options for those who want to leave with a skill. Advance tickets: 5. Door: 0. Kids 12 and under free. The Del Mar Fairgrounds setting adds an unexpected layer — the same grounds that host the county fair, now running something considerably stranger. Returns annually.

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San Diego Rocket Con 2025

Mar 15 – Mar 16, 2025 Del Mar Fairgrounds

A weekend of sci-fi, comics, and pop culture with artists, comic book legends, collectibles, and fun for all ages.

While you are looking Different scene, same night out.

Harvest Festival Original Art & Craft Show Del Mar 2026

Coming Soon

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8 days away

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Harvest Festival Original Art & Craft Show Del Mar 2026

In 8 days · Oct 16 $9+ Hangar 858, 3760 Glenn H Curtiss R…

Somewhere along the way, most of what we own stopped being made by hands we could shake. That is the quiet pull of a room full of makers: hundreds of them, under one roof at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, standing beside the glasswork and hand-turned wood and fine jewelry and photography they spent a year producing. You can talk to the person who threw the ceramic bowl. You can watch a woodworker explain the grain. For three days in October the fairgrounds fill with the smell of kettle corn and the low hum of a few hundred conversations between strangers who make things and strangers who want to hold them. There is a kids' zone, live entertainment, gourmet food, and holiday decor that will not exist in any big-box store. Bring cash, bring the children, bring the intention to leave with one thing you will keep for decades. October 16 through 18, 2026, Del Mar Fairgrounds. The 52nd year of a show that refuses to let handmade die.

Anime Expo 2027 — Los Angeles Convention Center

Coming Soon

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266 days away

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Anime Expo 2027 — Los Angeles Convention Center

Jul 1 – Jul 4, 2027 Los Angeles Convention Center, 120…

You will be tired in a way that feels earned. Four days, a hundred thousand people, and not one of them needs you to explain what you are talking about. The largest anime convention in North America takes the Los Angeles Convention Center over Fourth of July weekend and spills into the JW Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton beside it. Industry panels, screening rooms, autograph sessions with voice actors and composers, concerts that sell out weeks ahead. Studios from Japan use this as their main North American announcement stage — if a sequel or adaptation is being revealed, it often happens in a room you could be standing in. The exhibit hall carries imported merchandise and collaboration exclusives that surface nowhere else on the continent. Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 S Figueroa St. Thursday through Sunday. Badges run from top-tier early-access down to single-day passes. Book the connected hotel corridor months out. Everyone who tells you that learned it the hard way.

Monthly

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27 days away

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Pacific Beach Night Market

Monthly · Next Nov 4 Free Bayard St and Garnet Ave, Pacific …

A hundred and fifty steps from the ocean, a corner of Pacific Beach turns into a block party that nobody had to organize you into. Fire pits going. Nine to twelve food vendors rotating week to week, so the thing you loved last time might be gone and the thing replacing it might be better. Live music that is genuinely local — acoustic sets, small bands, the occasional DJ. Games. A crowd of PB locals and students and people who simply wandered up from the beach still holding a towel. Past vendors have run birria tacos, banh mi, craft lemonade, Hawaiian shave ice, artisan pastries, small-batch hot sauces. A few craft sellers usually set up alongside. This is a neighborhood gathering, not a ticketed event. Free. No RSVP. You walk up. Bayard St and Garnet Ave, Pacific Beach. 5 to 9:30 PM. Bring a layer — it cools off fast after sunset, even in August.

Coming Soon

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9 days away

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Taste of Soul LA 2026

In 9 days · Oct 17 Free Crenshaw Blvd (Martin Luther King …

The smell reaches you before the stages do - barbecue and catfish and soul food covering a mile-plus of Crenshaw Boulevard, because every major Black-owned restaurant in South LA has a booth out here and the food is the center of the whole thing. For one Saturday in October, this stretch between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Leimert Park Village becomes one of the largest street festivals in Los Angeles. More than 300,000 people move through in a single day. The format is street vendors, restaurant booths, live music stages, a car show, health screenings, and community organization presence - but it is the food and the crowd that make it. Founded by the Los Angeles Sentinel, the oldest Black-owned newspaper in California, it has run for over two decades and stayed a genuine community institution: multigenerational, neighborhood-rooted, and enormous. This is Leimert Park and Crenshaw at their fullest. Free to attend. Crenshaw closes to traffic for the day. The Metro K Line stops at Leimert Park Village and is the easiest way in and out. Arrive early if you want to move - by noon the crowds are deep.

Monthly

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30 days away

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Gaslamp Artisan Market (GLAM)

Every 1st Saturday · Next Nov 7 Free 400-500 5th Ave, Gaslamp Quarter, …

Every Saturday and Sunday, the heart of San Diego historic Gaslamp Quarter transforms into an outdoor open-air artisan market. The Gaslamp Artisan Market -- known as GLAM -- runs the length of 5th Avenue between Market Street and J Street, with 70 local artisans showcasing handmade, one-of-a-kind goods. This is where San Diego independent makers set up shop: handcrafted jewelry, original paintings, ceramics, leather goods, woven textiles, hand-poured candles, botanical skincare, and prints from local artists who live and work in this city every day. The market hosts live music from local musicians throughout the day. GLAM is free to attend and open to all ages. Shaded seating is available. The market runs 10 AM to 4 PM. Getting there: Located in the Gaslamp Quarter, easily accessible by trolley (Gaslamp Quarter station on the Blue and Orange line). Street parking and paid lots available on nearby blocks. No ticket required. This recurring weekend market is one of San Diego most accessible community gathering points for makers and collectors alike.

Diwali Mela 2026 — Artesia Little India Street Festival

Coming Soon

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33 days away

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Diwali Mela 2026 — Artesia Little India Street Festival

Nov 10, 2026 Pioneer Blvd (183rd to 188th St), …

Pioneer Boulevard shuts down, and for one day the biggest Little India in Southern California becomes the biggest Diwali party west of the Mississippi. The Artesia Diwali Mela takes over seven blocks of Pioneer Boulevard — from 183rd Street to 188th Street — with a main stage of Indian music and dance performances, dozens of food vendors serving everything from chaat to biryani to fresh jalebi, cultural booths, merchants with jewelry and textiles, and a street-level energy that makes Diwali feel like exactly what it is: the festival of lights brought to life in a California parking lane. Sunday, November 10, 2026, 11 AM to 10 PM. Pioneer Boulevard, Artesia, CA. Free admission. If you know someone who grew up celebrating Diwali and hasn't been to this yet, send them this. If you didn't grow up celebrating Diwali and want to understand why a billion people do — come find out.

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