Hello San Diego!

Welcome to the latest dispatch of the San Diego Participant Observer! Our Recipe of the Month is Cod with Thai Nam Jim Jeaw Sauce, yum! Our Book of the Month is Ewaso Village: Poems and Stories from Laikipia County, Kenya by Chip Duncan. And our International Music of the Month suggestion is Musakayike by the Madalitso Band who hail from Malawi.

Friday and Saturday, the 6th Annual Jewish Short Film Festival will continue at the JCC. The Digital Gym will screen the documentary I Went to the Dance (J’ai Été Au Bal) which celebrates the rich history of Cajun and Zydeco music. Mexican Latin pop group RBD will perform at SDSU's Viejas Arena.

The tapestry of events this weekend is rich and varied!

Friday, there will be a Korean Fall Harvest Festival at UCSD. At Royal Banquet, there will be a Carnatic Music Concert. The Original Wailers will perform at Belly Up. Ukrainian singer Oksana Bilozir will perform at the CIELO Rooftop Lounge. The Mexican big band La Dinastia de Tuzantla will perform at La Sinaloaese Bar and Grill.

Saturday and Sunday, the House of Czech and Slovak Republics will hold their annual Lawn Program at the International Cottages.

Saturday, the Washi Transformed: New Expressions in Japanese Paper Exhibition opens at the Mingei. At Monarch School's Center for the Arts, there will be an All of Us Festival. At the Central Library, there will be a talk on Kolymbethra: The Food Basket of Ancient Agrigento. The Filipino So Sarap Festival will take place at Waterfront Park. The 50th Annual Serbian Festival will take place at St. George's Serbian Orthodox Church. The North University Community Library will host a Bilingual Storytime. At the Central Library, Mary Knight will discuss her new book The Sicilian Sorceress. There will be a Filipino Kamayan Na Ka-Nayon Celebration at Kusina in Mira Mesa. The Embolden Beer Co will present a Taste of Japan event featuring Japanese street food. At Kensington-Normal Heights Library, there will be a Persian Music Concert featuring the Dornob Collective led by our friend Farhad Bahrami. The Japanese band Awesome &roid will perform at the Til Two Club. There will be a Carnatic Vocal Music Concert at the Seaside Center for Spiritual Living. Sewa International will hold their Annual Dance and Fundraiser at Spreckels Organ Pavilion. Jiaoying Summers will perform stand-up at Mic Drop Comedy. Comedian Jr De Guzman will perform at Balboa Theater. Jarabe Mexicano will perform at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts. Hawaiian singer Kalani Pe'a will perform at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido. And the comedy group Haram Guys will perform 2 shows at Good Bar and another show that Sunday. Jarabe Mexicano will perform at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts.

Sunday, the Escondido Grand Avenue Festival will happen. Mariachi Herencia de México will perform at JAI at the Conrad in La Jolla. At Little Italy's Piazza della Famiglia, there will be an Italian Heritage Concert. Legendary Argentine composer and singer Leo Dan will perform at SDSU. Romeo Santos will perform at the Pechanga Arena.

Monday, there will be a talk at Beth Israel on Recovering Holocaust Art. At the Logan Heights Library, there will be a Filipino American History Month Celebration. Clinton Davis and Aaron Brownwood will perform Appalachian Music at SDSU. Faiva O Samoa will perform at CSU San Marcos. And the Festival de Octubre continues at Park & Market with a screening of the film Fandango.

Next Wednesday, the Manny Cepeda Orchestra will perform at the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center. At the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, there will be a talk on Polychrome Art and the Parthenon. Mariachi Garibaldi will hold their 25th Anniversary Concert at Southwestern College. At Mic Drop, there will be an English Latino Comedy Show. Brazilian five-time Latin Grammy winner Marisa Monte UCSD's Epstein Family Amphitheater. Jamaican reggae artist Kabaka Pyramid will perform at Music Box. Enanitos Verdes and Julión Álvarez will perform at the Juan Tequila Bar & Restaurant.

Next Thursday, the 4-day San Diego International Film Festival will get underway. At the Museum of Contemporary Art, there will be a screening of the film History and Memory - For Akiko and Takashige. At USD, there will be a discussion on Toleration as a Political Virtue, Early Modern Developments. At Mandarin House in La Jolla, author Jean Kwok will give a dinner talk. At Heritage Park in Chula Vista, there will be a Día de Muertos Fiesta for Kids. At the Mingei, there will be a multi-group music event they are calling Maps & Memories. Mexican romantic ballads duo Sin Bandera will perform at the Civic Theatre.

Next weekend, the opera La Traviata will be performed at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido

Next Friday, at the Joan B. Kroc Performing Arts Center, there will be a Melle & Hulu Concert. At Coffee Hub and Cafe, authors Nancy Jooyoun Kim and Jean Kwok will talk about their latest works. Xanadu will open at the Coronado Playhouse. And Los Cuates de Sinaloa will perform at the Blue Agave Nightclub.

Next Saturday, the Chinese Historical Society and Museum will host an online talk on the Zodiac Heads from the Garden of Perfect Brightness. The House of Scotland will hold their annual Lawn Program at the International Cottages. At the Kearny Mesa Recreation Center, a 2nd Annual Gaelic Games & Irish Picnic will take place. At Westfield Plaza Bonita, there will be a Día de Los Muertos Celebration. The Worldbeat Center will host its 2nd annual Taste of Africa. At Marina Village, there will be a Traditional Mexican Medicine Workshop. CRY San Diego will hold its annual Dandiya Celebration at the California Center for the Arts. The inspiring Sharon Katz & The Peace Train will perform Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Carlsbad.

Next Sunday, the Oceanside Dia de los Muertos celebration will take place. At the Maraya Performing Arts Studio in Chula Vista, there will be a Filipino Arts & Culture Summit (and Blood Drive!). German Currents KINO will screen the film Mission Ulja Funk. Later that day, they will screen The Ordinaries. The Soap Factory will present a Lucha Libre Mexican Wrestling event. The fusion of Caribbean music and Afrobeats vibes Socafro Carnival will take place at Mr. Temp on Sixth Ave. The 2023-24 JPlays season kicks off with Lillian Hellman’s play Watch on the Rhine. Mexican star Lila Downs will perform at the Balboa Theater. At the San Diego Made Factory, there will be a Music For Maui with The Filharmonic fundraising concert. Hasta la Muerte at the California Center for the Arts is a multi-dimensional performance with music, dance, theatre, and folklore. Christian Nodal will perform at the Pechanga Arena.

Local theatrical productions include Dishwasher Dreams at the White Theatre at the Old Globe, Sumo at the La Jolla Playhouse, and Les Misérables (ends Sunday) at the Civic Theatre. Xanadu opens at the Coronado Playhouse next Friday.

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.

Everyone here at the San Diego Participant Observer and the Worldview Project wish you fulfilling, illuminating, and culturally-rich experiences in the days ahead. See you next week!