Labor Day is the unofficial end to summer. With that in mind, here’s the super-sized edition of the weekend guide to help you end summer with a bang, if you’re staying in town that is.
This weekend will be the most traveled Labor Day weekend since 2008, before the Great Recession.
But if you’re staying in town, there are some great events to end your summer in style.
Fun in the Sun
Tall ships, small trains, castles made of sand and bacon. If it’s outdoor fun you seek, check of the Festival of Sail, hosted by the Port of San Diego and the Maritime Museum, 1492 N. Harbor Drive. The event includes tours of tall ships and naval combat reenactments through Labor Day.
Admission to the festival, which the museum touts as the largest of its kind on the West Coast, is $7 for adults, and $5 for seniors, active-duty military with identification, and children ages 3-12.
Some activities, including riding on ships as they conduct mock cannon battles on the bay or sailing on America’s Cup yachts, will cost extra.
If trains are your thing, come join the fun at Chula Vista Train Festival. The free event is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Rohr Park, 4548 Sweetwater Rd. in Bonita.
The Chula Vista Live Steamers will be providing rides on its miniature trains that run in the park. The Train Festival will also feature the Mark Jackson Band, Cowboy Poets, a 4H petting zoo, horses, food vendors, and community booths.
If you’re active-duty military, then head on over to the U.S. Sand Sculpting Challenge & 3D Art Expo on the Port of San Diego’s B Street Pier on Friday. Military members will receive free admission along with three family members.
Unlike the Imperial Beach Sandcastles Competition earlier this summer, sand sculptors from around the world will create their works of art along an urban setting on San Diego Bay.
The event continues through Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 1. Hours for each day are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Saturday evening, the event’s beer garden will remain open until 9 p.m.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for children, seniors and military or $18 for a four-day pass.
If you’re a bacon fanatic — a baconatic, then this event is for you. Leave the kids at home and head over to Liberty Station for the Second Annual Hormel Black Label Bacon Fest from 1 to 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Billed as the bacon festival of epic proportions, more than 20 eateries will be serving food with the ingredient-du-jour, bacon.
Of course, being in San Diego, you’d have pair it with local beers. More than 25 local breweries will be joining in the fun, some even creating special brews for the occasion, such as Kevin’s Bacon Ale and California Ugly Bacon Moonshine.
Strictly a 21-and-over event, tickets start at $60 and are all inclusive, which means you can bacon until you can’t bacon anymore.
San Diego Music Scene
San Diego is more than just beer, surf, sun and sand. We’re also known for our music scene. Some of the biggest names in music got their start here. Acts such as Jason Mraz, Jewel and Blink-182 all honed their talents here.
This weekend, local talents as well as national acts will be rocking it in venues all over town.
Steve Aoki, one of the biggest names in electronic dance music will be playing Friday at the Del Mar Racetrack’s Four O’ Clock Friday summer concert series, and you can see him on the cheap. Just buy a Stretch Run admission ticket for $6 and you can enjoy a day at tracks and get a free concert to boot.
The show at the end of the last race on the new Seaside Stage, at the west end of the Grandstand and it’s standing-room only. If you arrive after the last race, concert tickets are $20.
If you think punk rock is dead, then PunchCard has a thing or two to say about that. The San Diego-based punk rock band will be hosting a album-release show Saturday at the Shakedown Bar, 3048 Midway Dr.
The group just finished its EP, Non Compos Mentis. With a name like that, the show is guarantee to be crazy.
Joining PunchCard will be Just In Case and A New Ending. The show starts at 8 p.m. and tickets are $3.
For classical music lovers, the San Diego Symphony’s Summer Pops Series will end this weekend starting on Friday with three nights of the 1812 Tchaikovsky Spectacular at the Embarcardero Marina Park South, 206 Marina Park Way.
The concerts start 7 :30 p.m. and tickets start at $20.
For more main stream music, a trio of pop acts will be gracing San Diego stages Saturday starting with Sleep Train Amphitheatre, which will host the Summer Nationals Tour, featuring The Offspring, Bad Religion and other acts Saturday. Tickets are $32.
Over at UC San Diego, Jack Johnson will perform at RIMAC Field, 9500 Gilman Drive. Tickets are $60.
And performing at San Diego State Open Air Theatre, 5500 Campanile Dr., is British indie rocker David Gray. Tickets start at $27