17 Things to Do in San Diego This Weekend: October 1-5
We’re now nearly three quarters of the way through 2025, and with fall in full swing, there are many ways to be out and about in San Diego this weekend. Those looking for some festival fun can check out the free Pacific Beachfest, the second annual SDTJ International Jazz Festival and weekend-long Oktoberfests in El Cajon and La Mesa. History buffs can dive into the past via San Diego History Center’s Dine & Doom speakeasy experience and the traveling production of the Broadway musical Suffs at the Civic Theatre. Plus, families with kids ages 12 and under can plan for an October full of discounted and complimentary experiences as part of Kids Free San Diego.
Food & Drink | Concerts & Festivals | Theater & Art Exhibits | More Fun Things to Do
Food & Drink Events in San Diego This Weekend
Taste of North Park
October 4
North Park is well-known as one of SD’s creative capitals, and this Saturday the neighborhood will flex its culinary muscles. The Taste of North Park will feature over 500 food options and 15 drink stops, plus live music and art pop-ups, with the chance to explore ice cream shops, gourmet gastronomy, and teamups from local breweries and boutiques. The tasting will begin at 11 a.m., with food until 3:30 p.m. and beverage options closing at 4 p.m. Food-only and shareable sip tickets have already sold out, so secure a 21+ food & sip ticket ($65) while they’re still on sale.
North Park
Dine & Doom: San Diego Speakeasy at San Diego History Center
October 4
Experience an interactive speakeasy with Prohibition-era mystique this Saturday from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the San Diego History Center’s Dine & Doom. Once the secret password is given, guests will descend into a Roaring Twenties–themed venue rich with previously archived artifacts and performers chronicling stories of bootlegging’s heyday. Guests are invited to dress in a period appropriate costume, and purchase beer, wine or soda at this 21+ event. Admission is $75 for San Diego History Center and Women’s Museum of California members and $85 for non-members.
1649 El Prado, Balboa Park
Mexico in a Bottle: San Diego at Bread & Salt Gallery
October 5
This Sunday from 4 to 7 p.m., Bread & Salt Gallery will host an all-encompassing look at Mexican distilling traditions, one bottle at a time. Dozens of vendors will share bites, sips, and history behind several Mexican whiskey, rum, gin and agave spirits during Mexico in a Bottle. Attendees can also check out a sensory-focused presentation from Genius Liquids founder Mike Groener and a talk from Francissco Terrazas, executive director of agave advocacy group Tequila Interchange Project. All-inclusive tickets start at $66 for Mexico in a Bottle.
1955 Julian Avenue, Logan Heights
Concerts & Festivals in San Diego This Weekend
Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats at The Sound
September 30
The Denver-based American singer-songwriter heads to The Sound in Del Mar on Tuesday, September 30 for his new album “South of Here.” With r&b, folk, and Americana influences, Rateliff grew up playing drums at age seven and often played music in church. Throughout his adult years, he began garnering a large following with his former bands Born in the Flood and Nathaniel Rateliff & the Wheel. In 2013, he formed Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats and embarked on a new more soulful sound which he has continued with today. Catch him live starting at 7 p.m.
San Diego Italian Film Festival
October 1-11
Bellissimo! The San Diego Italian Film Festival’s 19th annual feStivale returns this week with the theme of “Courage: The Art of Fearless Storytelling” and six days of Italian film screenings at the Museum of Photographic Arts. The cinematic offerings begin Wednesday from 7 to 9 p.m. with a lineup of eight short films at Digital Gym Cinema during Ristretto Shorts Night and will conclude with the celebratory feSta on Oct. 11 with food, live music and awards. Tickets for individual screenings and Ristretto Shorts Night are $22 and feSta tickets are $90.
1100 Market Street, East Village | 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park
Thee Sacred Souls & UB40 at Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre
October 2-4
Concertgoers can enjoy two nights of oldie-inspired melodies, and a Saturday night showcase of reggae and ska this week at Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre. First, South Bay soul revivalists Thee Sacred Souls will hold it down for two consecutive evenings at 8 p.m., joined by opening acts Brainstory on Thursday and The Emkays on Friday. Tickets start at $55 for Thursday’s concert and $85 for Friday’s, with more availability for the former show. Then, UB40, known for their chart-topping covers of “Red Red Wine” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” will be joined by ska group The English Beat; tickets start at $30 for this concert.
5500 Campanile Drive, Rolando
French Literary and Arts Festival
October 2-4
Alliance Française San Diego has organized three days of Francophone festivities with the first-ever French Literary and Arts Festival. There will be artistic gatherings all over La Jolla, beginning Thursday (6 p.m.) with a free Theater Night at Lycee Francais de San Diego and followed by Friday Movie night ($15) at the San Diego French-American School. Then, Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library there will be free workshops and panels, plus the piano concert A French Emotional Journey ($45).
La Jolla
San Diego Tijuana International Jazz Festival
October 2, 4 & 5
Year two of the immersive San Diego Tijuana International Jazz Festival begins with a bang on Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. at Quartyard with free performances from Binational Youth Ensemble, The Less Likely, Irving Flores Afro Cuban Sextet. This border region bash will continue Saturday at California Center for the Arts, Escondido, with a headliner set from Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Ensemble with the Fandango Fronterizo Colectivo, with the proceedings concluding across the border Sunday at the free Tijuana Jazz and Blues Festival. Tickets range from $42 to $118, with additional VIP add-ons available, for Saturday’s concerts.
1301 Market Street, East Village | 340 North Escondido Boulevard, Escondido
Local Oktoberfests
October 3-5
The spirit of Oktoberfest is spreading all over San Diego, with the return of the three-day La Mesa Oktoberfest and weekend two of German American Societies of San Diego’s Oktoberfest in El Cajon. The German-themed gathering in La Mesa is free to attend, and will include games, an artisan market, a ferris wheel, dog races and VIP beer garden experiences Friday-Sunday. In El Cajon, festivalgoers can explore German cuisine, stein-holding competitions, traditional folk dancing and the sounds of oom-pah also happening Friday-Sunday; adult tickets are $15 on Friday and Saturday and $5 on Sunday, with free entry for those under 21.
8361 Allison Avenue, La Mesa | 1017 South Mollison Avenue, El Cajon
Pacific Beachfest
October 4
Spend your Saturday beachside trying local craft beer, perusing an arts and craft village with more than 60 vendors, and watching performances on three live entertainment stages at the free Pacific Beachfest. This Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., there will also be a kids action alley, beach soccer and volleyball tournaments, a San Diego FC watch party, and a neighborhood 5K (plus a half marathon on Sunday). The Best of the Beach Fish Taco Contest is also slated to return from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; tickets are $20 and come with five samples to eat and rate.
Felpar Street to Thomas Street, Pacific Beach
Theater & Art Exhibits in San Diego This Weekend
Suffs at Civic Theatre
September 30 – October 5
Now on its first nationwide tour, Shaina Taub’s historically-inspired musical Suffs recounts an instrumental moment in the women’s suffrage movement. Through pivotal figures such as Alice Paul, Ida B. Wells and Carrie Chapman Catt, Suffs spotlights the end of first wave feminism through the 1920 ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment whilst acknowledging the battles still being fought. Tickets start at $52, with eight performances this week at the Civic Theatre.
1100 Third Avenue, Gaslamp
Arms and the Man at Lamb’s Players Theatre
October 1 – November 16
The first of many theatrical hits for legendary British dramatist George Bernard Shaw was his 1894 wartime romantic comedy Arms and the Man. This amusing story, in which a counter-stereotypical soldier hiding from battle sparks a series of romantic entanglements, will be adapted for the stage of the Lamb’s Players Theatre in a new production directed by Deborah Gilmour Smyth. Tickets for Saturday and Sunday matinees range from $48 to $98 and all other performances range from $28 to $78, with showtimes Wednesday-Sunday through Nov. 16.
1142 Orange Avenue, Coronado
Blues For An Alabama Sky at MOXIE Theatre
October 2-26
Starting off Season 21: Connections at the MOXIE Theatre is Pearl Cleage’s Blues For An Alabama Sky, directed by Desireé Clarke Miller, a bleak but beautiful look at the downslide from the Harlem Renaissance into the Great Depression. Set in 1930 Harlem, a group of friends with creative aspirations claw and struggle to make a name for themselves as the cruelness of reality threatens to squash their dreams for good. Tickets range from $5 to $100 for Blues For An Alabama Sky, with daily performances this Thursday-Sunday.
6663 El Cajon Blvd Suite North, El Cajon
A Step Beyond at Walter Redondo Fine Art Collection
October 3-9
“Is there life on Mars?” – David Bowie mused many years ago. Well for World Space Week, local artists Andrea Tarman and Walter Redondo have dared to envision what it would look like to call the Red Planet home. A Step Beyond reaches for the stars, channeling the spectacle of outer space to create dreamy installations, a Mars colony living room, interactive community artwork, a martian diary and informative astronomy and physics presentations. This exhibition opens Friday with an artist talk and meet-and-greet from 6 to 9 p.m. and will close Oct. 9 with a final viewing from 5 to 8 p.m. at Walter Redondo Fine Art Collection.
789 W Harbor Drive, Embarcadero
Emotion X Connection Opening Reception at Ashton Gallery
October 4
Friends and collaborators Anuj Jenveja and Priyanka Pathak have drawn from their professional experiences as psychotherapists, as well as their South Asian ancestry, to craft over 10 acrylic and mixed media paintings for Emotion X Connection. This expressive and symbolic exhibition will have a free opening reception featuring the artists this Saturday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Ashton Gallery, alongside the opening of the gallery’s juried Fall in Love exhibition. Emotion X Connection will remain on display, with items available for purchase, through Oct. 31.
4434 30th Street, North Park
More Fun Things To Do in San Diego This Weekend
Kids Free San Diego
October 1-31
It’s said that the best things in life are free, and all throughout October, kids ages 12 and under with a paid adult can take advantage of complimentary perks through Kids Free San Diego. This deal extends to over 60 San Diego County arts and culture institutions, including the Birch Aquarium, Cabrillo National Monument, the Japanese Friendship Garden and the Chicano Park Museum & Cultural Center, as well as hotel stays, local tours and discounted meals. Just search by category, download your Kids Free Coupons and enjoy all the savings.
Citywide
Fashion Week San Diego
October 4-5
Strut over to UCSD Park & Market for a couture-filled weekend from Fashion Week San Diego. Models will showcase new designer lines during 18+ runway shows Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. featuring live music, entertainment and a complimentary beverage for attendees. Day two is the all-ages trunk show & awards Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. offering guests the chance to buy rare items, converse with designers and study the latest fashion trends. Tickets to the runway show range from $100 to $175, and come with entry to the trunk show, while trunk show-only tickets are $15.
1100 Market Street, East Village
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