Hello San Diego!
The July edition of the San Diego Participant Observer is here, with book, music, and food recommendations, as well as a rundown of events happening around the city this weekend and next. Some highlights include the Tanabata Festival in Balboa Park (today), the Frida Kahlo Celebration in Barrio Logan, the Bayfest Reggae Festival at Waterfront Park, and the House of France Lawn Program at the International Cottages on Sunday.
In this issue, the Book of the Month selection is Banyan Moon by Thao Thai, a novel about three generations of Vietnamese American women who are connected by the Banyan House, a crumbling old mansion in Florida. The International CD of the Month suggestion is Diario Mali by Ludovico Einaudi & Ballake Sissoko, a CD featuring a renowned Italian pianist and a Malian master musician Ballaké Sissoko on kora.
The Recipe of the Month is on its summer holiday so we are re-presenting our recipe for Sichuan Mapo Dofu. We make this dish almost every month. Although you have to hunt up some of the ingredients to make it, the preparation is easy and you will end up with a meal that tastes like no other!
Today (Friday), the annual Tanabata Festival will be held at the Japanese Friendship Garden. Rogê & Mitchum Yacoub will perform at Quartyard. The Digital Gym will show the film Squaring the Circle (The History of Hipgnosis) which is about the artist pair of Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey “Po” Powell who designed a great number of famous album covers from the 1960s to 1980s.
Saturday and Sunday, Handel's opera Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (The Triumph of Time and Truth) will be performed at the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center in La Jolla.
Saturday, at the Frida Kahlo Celebration in Barrio Logan, you can enjoy a day filled with all things Frida Kahlo from themed art shows, live art, painting classes, flower crown workshops, games of Loteria, shopping, dining, to a Frida Kahlo Look-a-like contest. The Bayfest Reggae Festival will take place at Waterfront Park. There will be an Aklasan Fest Pre-Show at Che Cafe. Aklasan is a Filipino punk festival that will happen in early August. Latin rock groups Cardiel and Ladrones will perform at the Casbah.
Sunday, the House of France will host its annual Lawn Program at the International Cottages. The Sabrosas Latin Orchestra will perform at Liberty Station.
Monday, the film Moulin Rouge! will be shown atop the downtown Manchester Hyatt.
Tuesday, the Resilience Through Resistance PATH Gallery Exhibit will open at UCSD's Park & Market. Latin duo Buscabulla will perform at the Observatory in North Park.
Wednesday at Warwick's, Lorissa Rinehart will discuss and sign copies of her book First to the Front: The Untold Story of Dickey Chappelle, Trailblazing Female War Correspondent. Hayao Miyazaki’s film Ponyo will screen. There will be a repeat showing the following day.
Next Thursday, the Timken Museum of Art will present a virtual talk on Early Netherlandish Painting. Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka will perform two shows at the American Comedy Company.
Next Friday, the Mingei will offer a talk on Understanding Textile Conservation by conservator Annabelle Camp. At the San Diego Museum of Art, there will be a Bastille Day Celebration to celebrate French Independence. At Centro Cultural de la Raza, there will be a reception for the Toltecayotl Fuego Nuevo en Aztlán Art exhibition. At the Persian Cultural Center, there will be a Family Night event. At the Joan B. Kroc Theatre, the 30th Annual Día del Folklor celebration will be hosted by Ballet Folklórico Jalisciense. The film Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush will be screened at the Digital Gym. There will be a Flamenco Fundraising Show at the Turquoise. The annual San Diego International Mariachi Summit Concert will take place at Balboa Theatre. At Royal Diamond Room, there will be a Banda Night Party.
Next Saturday and Sunday, the San Diego Pride Festival and Parade will take place at Marston Point in Balboa Park.
Next Saturday, the Chinese Historical Society will present a talk on Xuanzang and the Real Journey to the West. Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá will host its annual Festival of the Bells. At Coronado Public Library, Warwick's will host author Sujata Massey who will talk about and sign copies of her book The Mistress of Bhatia House, the 4th in her"Perveen Mistry" series. At La Sinaloense Bar & Grill, La Autentica Vallarta, Rocio La Dama De La Cumbia and Grupo Rezkte will all perform.
Next Sunday, the Digital Gym will screen the classic film Big Boss featuring Bruce Lee.
Local theatrical productions include Twelfth Night at the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre at the Old Globe and Six the Musical at the San Diego Civic Theatre for a limited run.
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.
