This San Diego weekend, it’s time for two of the more prominent local holiday celebrations – and there’s more than one chance to see them both. Just in time for chilly, Cali-style winter wonderland weather too.
“Noel Noel,” three days of performance led by the San Diego Symphony, includes special guests the San Diego Master Chorale and San Diego Children’s Choir to bring seasonal cheer. Bundle up and head to the Rady Shell on the Embarcadero. Tickets start at $40 for the 7 p.m. shows Friday and Saturday and the 5 p.m. show Sunday.
But how about a Christmas parade on the bay? Or three?
Boat owners do up their vessels Sunday for the San Diego Bay Parade of Lights befitting the 2022 theme, “FantaSEA.” The route, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, proceeds to Harbor Island, the North and South Embarcadero, Cesar Chavez Park Pier, before ending at the Ferry Landing in Coronado. There’s free bleacher seating – first-come, first served, folks! – at Broadway Pier. At Cesar Chavez Park in Barrio Logan enjoy free coffee, cocoa and cookies. And guess what? You can watch it all again Dec. 18, the second night of the Parade of Lights.
Want more holidays by sea? There’s two more boat parades Saturday – the Christmas Boat Parade of Lights on Mission Bay at 5:30 p.m. and the Harbor Parade of Lights at 7 p.m. in Oceanside.
There’s community holiday celebrations this weekend too, in Poway on Friday and Saturday and National City on Saturday (for more information on these and dozens of other merry events, please see our Holiday Guide).
Banksy is a name known around the world for guerrilla art. See an interactive exhibition based on the unknown artist’s work – there’s wide speculation about his identity, but no one has locked it down – in Normal Heights when “Banksyland” arrives at the Adams Avenue Theater Friday. Unless slots open up, though, it’s already sold out this weekend. Plan ahead for next weekend, as the show, which includes 80 works, among them some salvaged from street installations, closes Dec. 18. Admission starts at $29.
Sure, the U.S. is out, but the World Cup is coming down to the quarterfinals, which begin Friday. Watch parties continue in San Diego, but Saturday’s England v. France match will be of particular interest at the Shakespeare Pub near Mission Hills. Go and wave a flag when the match starts at 11 a.m.
Tap into literature and culture thanks to the Oceanside Theatre Company at “Black Rootedness, A Poetry Reading” at 11 a.m. Saturday with hosts Karla Brundage and Oceanside’s Rameses Setekh of Sown in Truth Orations. Tickets for the event, at the Sunshine Brooks & Studio, 217 North Coast Hwy., cost $10 in advance or $15 at the door. Coffee and treats served at 10 a.m.