San Diego events occur as often as there are sunny days in a city known for its pleasant weather. It boasts more sunny days in a year than any other city in the United States, and the city's events certainly take advantage of that record. There is a vibrant nightlife here, and concerts in San Diego can be found at numerous clubs throughout the year. You can find concerts in San Diego as well as fine dining and luxury hotels all together in one place at the Hard Rock, located at the entrance to the Gaslamp Quarter.

Some San Diego festivals are internationally known. The San Diego Jazz Festival is one of these. There are actually two respected jazz festivals. One is held for four days around Thanksgiving and is the Dixieland Jazz Festival at the Town & Country Convention Center. The center has several concert venues with dance floors and a number of smaller intimate listening rooms where you can swing along to traditional and Dixieland jazz. The other takes place all over the Gaslamp Quarter, and is held during the last week of May. Headliners have included Marc Antoine, Kenny G, and Stevie Wonder. Other popular San Diego festivals include Street Scene, held at the end of August in the downtown area. It's been going strong since 1984, and has hosted performers like the Black Eyed Peas and Busta Rhymes. There are numerous other concerts in San Diego held at various large venues throughout the year.

The laid-back atmosphere of San Diego does not preclude it from possessing major league sports teams. The two primary franchises are the San Diego Padres (Major League Baseball) and the San Diego Chargers (National Football League). Petco Park (pictured above) is home to the Padres and is in operation from April thru September/October, while Qualcomm Stadium houses the Chargers during the fall & winter months. With its temperate weather, attending the live home games of San Diego sports teams is usually a very pleasant and comfortable affair no matter the time of year. Both stadiums occasionally also feature non-sporting events such as concerts, but baseball and football games are what they're primarily used for.

San Diego Map

There are more than 30 craft brewing companies in the area, and it's possible to book tours that visit many of them. Some of the breweries, like the Karl Strauss Brewing Company in La Jolla, are respected around the world and have won international awards for brewing fine beer. The San Diego Beer Festival is held in mid-September and draws many diverse brewers, including some from around California as well as companies from across the United States, such as the Kona Brewery from Hawaii and the Boston Beer Company from Massachusetts.

San Diego events include numerous holiday celebrations. Fourth of July fireworks, set off over curving Coronado Bridge, are quite spectacular. The large Hispanic community means there are colorful Cinqo de Mayo (fifth of May) and Dio de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) parades, music, piñatas, and mariachi bands strolling large Balboa Park. The Day of the Dead celebration is held around Halloween on All Saints Day. Around Christmas time, you can head to Point Loma, the Embarcadero, or Coronado Island to witness the Parade of Lights. This is the sailing capital of the western United States, and hundreds of festively lit yachts, cabin cruisers, and tall ships parade through the bay. Or try the New Orleans-style Mardi Gras held in the Gaslamp Quarter on Fat Tuesday.

The Little Italy Festa is one of the several San Diego festivals held in this vibrant ethnic community. This occurs around mid-October, and the streets come alive with everything Italian. Nearly 150,000 visitors show up, and hundreds of restaurants participate so that you can get a sample of what dining is like in the many Italian restaurants here. There are costumed dancers, wine tastings, stalls set up by local artisans to display their handcrafts, and a hotly contested Italian Gesso Chalk Painting competition. It is the largest one-day Italian American street fair west of the Mississippi, and is surpassed in the United States only by the similar event in New York City. You will find many Irish and English pubs throughout the city and its suburbs, and San Diego events on St. Patrick's Day are celebrated in most of them.