Seeing all the enormously interesting events happening in and around San Diego in the coming days, I continue to be in awe of how special our city is!

Today (Friday), the Asian Film Festival Spring Showcase continues at the UA in Hazard Center will multiple films screening every day until next Thursday. At the Brooks Theatre in Oceanside, local UT columnist (and former radio host) Richard Lederer will present Living Will - the Legacy of William Shakespeare. The Canadian ensemble Constantinople will perform on instruments from both the Middle East and Renaissance Europe, paying homage to the history and culture of the city from which the ensemble took its name. Banda El Limón will perform at the Blue Agave Nightclub.

Saturday and Sunday, the Tequila & Taco Music Festival will take place at Petco Park. Also on Saturday and Sunday, the German comedy show Lach Mal Wiede will be held at the German American Societies' venue in El Cajon.

Saturday, Chicano Park Day will take place in Barrio Logan. EarthFest (formerly Earth Day) returns to Balboa Park. The House of Spain will hold their annual Cervantes Festival at the International Cottages. There will be a Shakepeare Birthday Party at the Old Globe to celebrate the the Bard's 459th birthday.The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival's touring performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream will happen at the San Carlos Library. College Rolando Library will host a Crafting Culture: Beltane (Gaelic May Day) event. At the Seaside Center for Spiritual Living in Encinitas there will be a performance by a Carnatic Quartet. At Park & Market, the Camarada ensemble will perform their En Fuego: Music of Mexico, Uruguay & Argentina show. Mexican singer, composer, and songwriter of Norteño music Ramon Ayala at the SDSU Open Air Theatre. An Evening of Indian Classical Music featuring Pandit Kartik Seshadri will take place at UCSD's Conrad Prebys Concert Hall.

Sunday, the House of England will hold their annual Lawn Program at the International Cottages and a Renaissance Faire. The Worldbeat Center will hold their 31st Annual Multi-Cultural Earth Day Celebration. At Normal Heights Community Dev, Feria de Abril (April Fair) will be celebrated with Spanish music, dance and food. At the Brooks Theater in Oceanside, the Spanish-language family comedy Se Alquila Mi Tesorito (My Little Treasure for Rent) will be performed. Sabrosas Latin Orchestra will perform at the Belly Up. At The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, there will be a Dutch King's Day Celebration.

Monday at the Central Library, there will be a talk by a 100-year-old Holocaust survivor Joseph Alexander about his personal account of survival and hope.

Tuesday, the Italian film Deep Red will be shown at the Digital Gym.

Next Thursday through next Sunday, the La Jolla Playhouse, in Association with San Diego Symphony, will commence their annual WOW (Without Walls) Festival with performances at several different venues.

Next Thursday, at the Rolando Library there will be a Día de los Niños y Libros Celebration. At UC San Diego Park & Market, an International Design Day Celebration will be held. The San Diego Italian Film Festival will show The Traitor (Il Traditore) at La Paloma Theatre in Encinitas. There will be a Black Film Festival at SDSU's Scripps Cottage celebrating the works of the college's Black filmmakers. Paco Versailles will perform at the Casbah.

All next weekend the International Mobile Film Festival will take place at Marina Village Conference Center. Also next Friday, Saturday and Sunday there will be performances Opera Neo's rendition of The Barber of Seville taking place at Balboa Park's Spanish Village.

Next Friday, at the Ocean Beach Library, there will be a El Día de los Libros Storytime for kids. Mexican folk ensemble Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán will perform at the El Cajon Magnolia Performing Arts Center.

Next Saturday, the delightful Annual Linda Vista Multi-Cultural Fair & Parade will take place. At the Oceanside Civic Center, there will be an Asian Pacific Islander Festival with lots of food and lots of performances. The SoCal Taco Fest will take place at Waterfront Park. In North Park, there will be a Salsa Fest featuring music, salsa tasting, food trucks, and a beer garden. At the Point Loma Library, the Opus Generis poetry reading will focus on "five classical poems that illustrate the gender-identity formation process." The Border X Lucha Libre event at the Spring Valley Gymnasium will "showcase Luchadors from all over the globe". At D.G. Wills Books in La Jolla, author Lawrence Goldstone will discuss and sign copies of his book, Not White Enough. Capping of next Saturday evening is another Beatles vs. Stones battle of the tribute bands at the Belly Up.

Next Sunday at Liberty Station, the Nowroz & Eid Festival will feature shopping, music, dance, food and games. At the International Cottages, the House of Finland will hold their annual Lawn Program featuring cultural food, performances and demonstrations. At the cozy Digital Gym, there will be a screening of Othello which was filmed live at the National Theatre. At All Saints' Episcopal Church, the Greater San Diego Music Coterie will perform works inspired by the city of Rome. Mariachi Reyna De Los Angeles and Villa-Lobos Brothers will perform at the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center in La Jolla. The Worldbeat Center will starting a new Afro-Latin Jam Session which will take place every Sunday. A Hindustani instrumental program, Tejendra Majumdar’s Sarod, will be performed at the Seaside Center for Spiritual Living in Encinitas. The exquisitely talented multi-lingual vocalist Allison Adams Tucker and her Women in Jazz Quartet celebrate International Jazz Day at Tio Leo’s. At the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, the Comedy for Peace show aims to unite Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities through humor and mutual understanding. At the First Unitarian Universalist Church, historian Natalia Molina will discuss her book A Place at the Nayarit which tells the story of an immigrant community uniting restaurant in LA.

Local theatrical offerings include The XIXth (The Nineteenth) at the Old Globe Shiley Stage (ends this Sunday!) and Exotic Deadly, or the MSG Play continues at the Old Globe White Theatre.

Please note that after two weeks in the main calendar section, ongoing events (such as exhibitions and plays) can be found in Ongoing and Extended Events.

And if you are an avid and adventuresome reader, visit our www.multiculturalbooks.org site to browse our compendious collection.